LAURIE HALSE ANDERSONAward-winning author, prolific writer, mother, wife,

and nature-lover

Who is Laurie Halse Anderson?

• Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author.• She is a prolific writer and has published realistic fiction, historical

fiction, and picture books. She is best-known for her young adult realistic and historical fiction.

• She is known for writing young adult books about tough subjects using humor and sensitivity.

• Laurie Halse Anderson was born October 23, 1961, in Potsdam, New York, to Frank and Joyce Halse.

• Anderson received her A.A. from Onondaga County Community College in 1981. She then earned a B.S. in languages and linguistics from Georgetown University in 1984.

• She is a mother of four and a wife and still lives in New York.

Anderson and Writing

• Laurie Halse Anderson has loved writing since she was in the 2nd grade.

• After completing her education, Anderson spent time starting a family and working as a freelance reporter for newspapers and magazines.

• After thousands of rejection letters, Anderson began publishing her own books in 1996. Her first publication was a picture book for children entitled Ndito Runs.

• Anderson feels like an aunt to all young adults. She enjoys creating characters and plots for young adults as they transition to adulthood.

• Anderson’s husband built her a “woodland writing cottage, which is where she does all of her writing.

Awards & Achievements

• New York Times Bestselling Author• Two-time National Book Award nominee (for Speak and Chains)• 2010 School Library Month Spokesperson for American Association of School

Librarians (AASL), a division of American Library Association (ALA)• (2000-2009) Amazon Blog “Omnivoracious”—One of Eight Influential Young

Adult Writers of the Decade • 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award, given by the American Library Association for

significant and lasting achievement in young adult literature• 2008 Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) Award, honors those who

have made outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature.• 2006 Onondaga Community College Alumni Faces Award• 2004 Fayetteville-Manlius Hall of Distinction• 2002 Free Library of Philadelphia/Drexel University Children’s Literature

Citation

Literary Works

For Young AdultsRealistic Fiction:• Speak (1999)• Catalyst (2002)• Prom (2005)• Twisted (2007)• Wintergirls (2009)

Historical Fiction:• Fever 1793 (2000)• Chains (2008)• Forge (2010)• Ashes (exp. 10/2011)

For Young ReadersFiction:• Vet Volunteers series

• The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School

Nonfiction:• Independent Dames• Thank You Sarah!

And several other hard to find picture books

SPEAK

Speak is Anderson’s most noted work.

The book tells the story of Melinda, a high school freshman. Melinda is an outcast as she enters her freshman year of high school because she called the cops at a party during the summer. Her peers do not realize that Melinda called the cops because she had been sexually assaulted by a senior at a party. The book documents Melinda’s reactions to the assault and her feelings of isolation and rejection from those who surround her.

In the video clip to the right, Anderson weaves the thousands of letters she has received over the past ten years into a poem about the novel.

Speak earned Anderson the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Printz Honor Medal Book Award.

FEVER 1793

• Fever 1793 is the story of a fourteen year old girl’s life during a yellow fever breakout in Philadelphia, PA.

• Mattie Cook watches as the “Fever” spreads from the docks and creeps toward her home, threatening everything she holds dear. As the cemeteries fill with fever victims, fear turns to panic, and thousands to flee the city. Mattie tries to escape the city with her grandfather, but is unsuccessful. She is forced to return to the city fight to survive a living nightmare.

• • Fever 1793 was an American Library

Association Best Book for Young Adults selection and also a Junior Library Guild selection.

TWISTED

• Anderson’s work mostly appealed to young women until the publication Twisted in 2007.

• Twisted is the first of Anderson’s books to have a male protagonist.

• In the book, the protagonist, Tyler Miller, was always the kind of guy who faded into the background–average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family—until he was noticed by one of the most popular girls at school, who also happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy, and his secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.

• Anderson tackles a very controversial subject in Twisted: what it means to be a man today.

Resources

Teaching Resources:• A guide to teaching several of Anderson’s books at Web English

Teacher: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/lhanderson.html• A guide for teachers on Anderson’s website:

http://madwomanintheforest.com/teachers/

Online References:• http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/

Anderson__Laurie_Halse.html• Mad Woman in the Forest is Anderson’s official website: http://

madwomanintheforest.com