Laurie Halse Anderson Books In Order

Publication Order of Vet Volunteers Books

Publication Order of Seeds Of America Trilogy Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Children's Books

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Laurie Halse Anderson was born on 23rd of October 1961 in Potsdam (New York). She is an American based writer who is best known for her impressive work on children’s and young adult books. She lives with her husband together with their four children. During her senior years in school she left home and ended up spending at least thirteen months as a student in Denmark. This experience according to her is what motivated and encouraged her to attend college when she finally came back to the United States. She earned her associate degree after successfully completing two years at Onondaga community college where she also used to work on the dairy farm. After her graduation she chose to transfer to Georgetown University where she pursued another bachelor’s degree in 1984.

When not writing or enjoying time together with her family, she spends time taking care of her garden. She also has a woodland cottage set up from where she spends several hours writing. When free she also loves marathon training, go hiking in the mountains as well as coaxing a few tomatoes from the fairly rocky soil present in her backyard.

Early life

Anderson used to read most of the time, she however, was not good at math but then, most creative people seemingly are. Fortunately she has completely gotten over it. When reading, historical fiction was always her favorite right from when she was still little all through into teenage hood. She however admits that as a teenager she developed love for science fiction as well as fantasy. All this yet she never had a clue that she would one day become a writer. In fact, in her mind, she was working towards becoming a doctor. She was always fascinated by the different foreign languages and cultures something which she has taken advantage of to make her books extremely unique from the rest. In case you are keen you may have already noted that most of her books are aimed at familiarizing children with American history.

Career

Laurie began her career working as a self-employed journalist. During this time she also used to write children’s as well as young adult titles. In spite of receiving numerous rejection letters, Anderson maintained her course writing more and even went ahead to release her first complete children/s novel dubbed Ndito Runs – 1996. This novel was based on Olympic marathon runners from Kenya who circumstances forced to run to and from school on a daily basis. Later the same year, she came out came out and had her work Turkey Pox published. Interesting thing is, her story was mainly motivated by her daughter, who suffered from Chicken Pox one thanks giving. Shortly after in 1998, Anderson again published a new title: “No time for Mother’s day” which featured the same characters.

In 1999, Anderson published what was to be her most famous book yet titled speak. This book was the national book award finalist, best seller and print Honor Book. In fact, the book was even incorporated into the school curricular across the country. A film version of the same was released in 2004 which featured Kristen Stewart as “Melinda”. A couple of years later she published Catalyst which was her second young adult novel.

Apart from the above, Anderson’s other books include: “Prom” -2005, “Winter girls”-2009, “Twisted”-2007 etc it is equally worth noting that apart from contemporary fiction, Anderson has also published numerous historical fiction novels. For example: Fever 1793 in 2000, Forge in 2010 and Chains in 2008.

Awards and honors

Over the years, several of Anderson’s books have been featured on recommended lists with a good number winning her highly coveted awards. For instance:

i. Her novel speak won her the Golden kite award, the los Angeles times Prize as well as the Edgar Allan Poe award

ii. She managed to finish runners up for the Michael L. Printz Award and for the nationalized Book award for young people’s Literature.

iii. Fever 1973 was an ALA best title for the Young adult’s selection as well as junior library guide selection.

iv. Her book “Chains” was the national Award finalist in 2008 wining her Scott O’dell Award for her Historical fiction back in 2009.

v. She received the Magret A. Edwards Award by the ALA back in 2009 for her impressive contribution to the young adult literature.

vi. She was awarded the ALAN award for her achievements in the field of Adolescent literature by the Assembly on Literature for adolescents in 2008.

vii. In 2010 she was chosen as the American Association of School spokesperson by librarians.

Inspiration to write

Anderson admits that she gets new ideas frequently. She claims ideas pop into her head right out of nowhere while once in a while she stumbles upon them after reading something new and different from the type of materials she is used to. For instance, overheard dialogue at the airport, conversation at the grocery shop, witnessing a scene out of the house etc

Motivation to write

Laurie openly admitted that writing helps keep her same and healthy. For instance, when working on a story she admits to channeling all the dark, sad, angry and confused bits of herself into coming up with something constructive and healing. The end result is her feeling much better.

Writing process

When writing she says she approaches the writing session in one of two paths. Either she approaches the writing through the character or through the plot. Whenever she starts her writing with a character she admits to meandering around creating a plot of interesting scenes which in turn collectively helps her develop and understand the best plot. However, whenever she starts with the plot, the scenes seem to be much more systematic though she keeps a separate journal on the side to develop her characters.

Laurie Anderson has managed to join the list of high profiled best selling authors. Writing for children of all ages, she her work is unique in the sense that she tackles tough subjects with sensitivity and humor. This is actually why her work over the years has earned her several state as well as national awards. In fact, some of her best titles have graced her with international recognition.