Helping 'make a little more sense to teens'

 

“If I can write a book that will help the world make a little more sense to a teen, then that's why I was put on the planet.” – Laurie Halse Anderson

 

Born in Potsdam, NY on this date in 1961, Anderson is a multiple award-winning journalist and Young Adult novelist catapulted to fame with her first novel Speak, a National Book Award finalist and major motion picture.    Recipient of Sweden’s  Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the richest prize in children’s literature, she also was presented the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association for her ongoing contributions to Young Adult literature. 

 

 

Published in 1999, Speak is the story of a 13-year-old sexual assault victim who loses her ability to speak after the attack.   In addition to being a National Book Award finalist, it also won the Golden Kite award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and been translated into 16 languages.

 

Anderson has written more than 30 YA and Children’s books including Fever 1793, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Junior Library Guild selection, and Chains, a National Book Award finalist and first in her “Seeds of America” series.  That book also won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.  Her most recent is 2025’s Rebellion. 

 

Lauded for creating characters teens can identify with, she noted, “That can be the most painstaking aspect of being a teen, figuring out what the world really looks like.  If you find someone in a book, you know you're not alone and that's what's so comforting about books.”