Laurie Halse Anderson

“The smoke shifted direction and I breathed in. Breathed out. On the inhale I was angry. On the exhale…there it was again.…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“They keep asking questions like “What is wrong with you?” and “Do you think this is cute?” How can I answer? I…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Grandma frowned and yelled something in Russian. She could have been saying, 'Open up, your best friend is here.' On the other…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

I don't just use yarn from a store. I buy old sweaters from consignment shops. The older the better, and unravel them.…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

I'm finally watching 'Mad Men.' As a child of the '60s, I can't believe how old everything looks! I am the age…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“His Excellency today appealed to the Officers of this Army to consider themselves as a band of brothers cemented by the justice…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“What did it feel like to die? Was it a peaceful sleep? Some thought it was full of either trumpet-blowing angels or…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Why not draw naked guys, just to be fair? Naked women is art, naked guys a no-no, I bet. Probably because most…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Why? You want to know why? Listen to the whispers that curl into your head at night, calling you ugly and fat…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“I spent the last Friday of summer vacation spreading hot, sticky tar across the roof of George Washington High. My companions were…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“You know what's not sexy?" I pushed his hand away. "Babies. Babies are not sexy." "But I bought condoms," he said. "I…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“One of the seeds has split its shell and reaches a white hand upward. An apple tree growing from an apple seed…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“Why don’t you want to see your mom? Did she burn your dolls in a sacrificial fire? Read your e-mail?” “She wants…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“The unforgiving November wind blows me toward the building. Pointy snowflakes spiral down from the cake-frosting clouds overhead. The first snow. Magic.…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

I shake my head. I pick up the rake and start making the dead-leaf pile neater. A blister pops and stains the…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“Nothing good ever happens at lunch. The cafeteria is a giant sound stage where they film daily segments of Teenage Humiliation Rituals.…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

They tied me back together, but they didn't use double knots. My insides are draining out of the fault lines in my…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

We've fallen down on our responsibility to our children by somehow creating this world where they're surrounded by images of sexuality; and…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Memory cuts both ways; it can either provide you with tremendous strength and a foundation to carry you through your life, or…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

If I run or breathe too deep, the cheap stitches holding me together will snap, and all the stickiness inside will pour…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“I flip ahead in the textbook. There's an interesting chapter about acid rain. Nothing about sex. We aren't scheduled to learn about…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Look at the stupid, poor people. Look at the stupid, poor, burned-out people. Look at the stupid, poor, burned-out people, look at…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“The books I'd checked out of the library earlier in the week were still stacked on my bureau, whispering my name and…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“Me: "All right, but you said we had to put emotion into our art. I don't know what that means. I don't…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“Where did you live before you came here?" I asked. "The moon," he said smoothly. "We left because the place had no…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“I just do what I'm told. If I felt like talking, I would explain that she couldn't pay me enough to play…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

It's a shame we can't just admit that we failed family living, sell the house, split up the money, and get on…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

No, I am never setting foot in this house again it scares me and makes me sad and I wish you could…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“I'm fighting the shock of having a guest in my room. I almost kick her out because it's going to hurt too…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

It's bad timing, but a lot of kids become teenagers just as their parents are hitting their mid-life crisis. So everybody's miserable…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“It was a prom dress.It was pink.It was originally seventy percent off,but Ma got it down to eighty-five percent off by screaming…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

I need a new friend. I need a friend, period. Not a true friend, nothing close or share clothes or sleepover giggle…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“Ghosts are waiting in the shadows of the room, patient dull shimmers. The others can see them, too, I know it. We’re…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

It made me strong.I took a step back, near my whole self in the mirror.I pushed back my shoulders and raised my…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

I just thought of a great theory that explains everything. When I went to that party, I was abducted by aliens. They…

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Mr. Freeman sighs. "No imagination. What are you thirteen? Fourteen? You've already let them beat your creativity out of you!

— Laurie Halse Anderson

“It is a pretend question, one he asked so he could give the answer. I relax. This is like when my father…

— Laurie Halse Anderson