A little kid asks my dad why that man is chopping down the tree. Dad: He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.

— Laurie Halse Anderson

And that’s the problem. When you’realize, people can hurt you. It’s easier to crawl into a bone cage or a snowdrift of confusion. It’s easier to lock everybody out. But it’s a lie.

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Another page turns on the calendar, April now, not March.......... I am spinning the silk threads of my story, weaving the fabric of my world... I spun out of control. Eating was hard. Breathing was hard. Living was hardest. I wanted to swallow the bitter seeds of forgetfulness... Somehow, I dragged myself out of the dark and asked for help. I spin and weave and knit my words and visions until a life starts to take shape. There is no magic cure, no making it all go away forever. There are only small steps upward; an easier day, an unexpected laugh, a mirror that doesn't matter anymore. I am thawing.

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Art without emotion its like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag.

— Laurie Halse Anderson

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

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.

— Laurie Halse Anderson

CONJUGATE THIS:

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Could he hear my heart pounding?

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Dr. Stupid Parker says that when I'm sad it really means I'm angry and when I'm angry it really means I'm afraid.

— Laurie Halse Anderson

Eating was hard. Breathing was hard. Living was hardest.

— Laurie Halse Anderson