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Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson Quotes

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Famous Laurie Halse Anderson Quotes

“I shake my head. I pick up the rake and start making the dead-leaf pile neater. A blister pops and stains the rake handle like a tear. Dad nods and walks to the Jeep, keys jangling in his fingers. A mockingbird lands on a low oak branch and scolds me. I rake the leaves out of my throat. Me: "Can you buy some seeds? Flower seeds?”

WalksLandTearsFlowerKeysDadLowsPicksFingersPopsSeedsHandleBranchesShakesThroatLeafsOaksStainsRakesBlistersMockingbirdJeeps
Book:Speak
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“This girl shivers and crawls under the covers with all her clothes on and falls into an overdue library book, a faerie story with rats and marrow and burning curses. The sentences build a fence around her, a Times Roman 10-point barricade, to keep the thorny voices in her head from getting too close.”

BookStoriesFallGirlVoiceClothesLibrarySentencesBurningCurseRatsFenceFaerieShiverThis GirlMarrowLibrary BooksOverdueBarricades
Book:Wintergirls
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“We tilt our heads back and open wide. The snow drifts into our zombie mouths crawling with grease and curses and tobacco flakes and cavities and boyfriend/girlfriend juice, the stain of lies. For one moment we are not failed tests and broken condoms and cheating on essays; we are crayons and lunch boxes and swinging so high our sneakers punch holes in the clouds. For one breath everything feels better. Then it melts. The bus drivers rev their engines and the ice cloud shatters. Everyone shuffles forward. They don't know what just happened. They can't remember.”

KnowsFeelsMomentsRememberLyingHappenedBrokenMouthsTestsBreathsCloudsBoxesWideHolesSnowIceCurseGirlfriendCheatingDriversBusLunchEnginesFeel BetterEssaysZombieJuiceTobaccoStainsCrawlingCondomSneakersGreaseCrayonFlakesTiltShuffleBus Driver
Author:Laurie Halse Anderson
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“If I had lady-spider legs, I would weave a sky where the stars lined up. Matresses would be tied down tight to their trucks, bodies would never crash through windshields. The moon would rise above the wine-dark sea and give babies only to maidens and musicians who had prayed long and hard. Lost girls wouldn't need compasses or maps. They would find gingerbread paths to lead them out of the forest and home again. They would never sleep in silver boxes with white velvet sheets, not until they were wrinkled-paper grandmas and ready for the trip.”

IfsNeedsGivingLongHardHomeBodyWould BeGirlLostStarsDarkSleepWhitePathSeaSkyReadyBabyMoonPaperMusicianWineBoxesLegsForestsSilverMapsTiedCrashSheetsSpidersCompassTruckRise AboveGrandmaVelvetMaidensNever SleepGingerbreadLost Girl
Author:Laurie Halse Anderson
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“The light beyond my eyes flashflashflashes with a hundred futures for me. Doctor. Ship's captain. Forest ranger. Librarian. Beloved of that man or that women or those children or those people who voted for me or who painted my picture. Poet. Acrobat. Engineer. Friend. Guardian. Avenging whirlwind. A million futures--not all pretty, not all long, but all of them mine. I do have a choice" - p. 271”

PeopleMenChildrenLongLightEyeChoicesMillionsMinesPoetHundredDoctorsForestsShipsBelovedEngineersCaptainsGuardianLibrarianRangersWhirlwindAvenging
Author:Laurie Halse Anderson
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“What do you miss about being alive?" The sound of my mom singing, a little off-key. The way my dad went to all my swim meets and I could hear his whistle when my head was underwater, even if he did yell at me afterward for not trying harder. I miss going to the library. I miss the smell of clothes fresh out of the dryer. I miss diving off the highest board and nailing the landing. I miss waffles" - p. 272.”

IfsWayTryingLittlesSoundAliveMissingKeysMomDadClothesHighestSingingHarderLibraryMy DadMy MomSmellBoardsSwimLandingDivingUnderwaterWafflesDryers
Author:Laurie Halse Anderson
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“Censoring books that deal with difficult, adolescent issues does not protect anybody. Quite the opposite. It leaves kids in the darkness and makes them vulnerable. Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them”

WorldChildrenDoeBookKidsFatherDifficultDealsDarknessIssuesIgnoranceProtectOppositesOur ChildrenVulnerableCensorshipCensoringCensoring Books
Author:Laurie Halse Anderson
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“Mr. Freeman: You are getting better at this, but it's not good enough. This looks like a tree,but it is an average, ordinary, everyday, boring tree. Breathe life into it. Make it bend - trees are flexible, so they don't snap. Scar it, give it a twisted branch - perfect trees don't exist. Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree.”

GivingLooksEnoughPerfectInterestingTreeOrdinaryEverydayAverageBoringBreatheGet BetterBranchesFlawsGood EnoughScarFlexibleTwistedSnapsNot Good EnoughFreemanNothing Is Perfect
Book:Speak
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“In one universe, they are gorgeous, straight-teethed, long-legged, wrapped in designer fashions, and given sports cars on their sixteenth birthdays. Teacher smile at them and grade them on the curve. They know the first names of the staff. They are the Pride of the Trojans. Oops – I mean Pride of the Blue Devils. In Universe #2, they throw parties wild enough to attract college students. They worship the stink of Eau de Jocque. They rent beach houses in Cancún during Spring Break and get group-rate abortions before prom.”

KnowsFirstsMeanLongEnoughUniverseHouseNamesGivenSportsPartyBreakTeacherGroupsFashionCarStudentsCollegePrideWorshipSpringDevilBlueRateBeachDesignerAbortionGradesStaffCurvesGorgeousStinkPromCollege StudentsSports CarsTrojansSpring BreakBeach HouseSixteenth Birthday
Book:Speak
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