Laurie Halse Anderson tend to discuss difficult and often taboo topics that are nonetheless of significant concern to many teens, Date of birth: October 23, 1961 have received critical acclaim as well as various Place of birth: Potsdam, New York awards. Anderson is also the author of a variety of children’s books. Principal Works Born Laurie Beth Halse on October 23, 1961, in Young Adult Literature Potsdam, New York, Anderson was the first of two Speak (1999) daughters born to Frank and Joyce Halse. Her father was Fever 1793 (2000) a minister who served for a time as chaplain at Syracuse Catalyst (2002) University. As a child, Anderson initially had some trou- Prom (2005) ble with reading, but she soon became an avid reader Twisted (2007) and particularly enjoyed the fantasy works of J. R. R. Seeds of America trilogy (2008–) Tolkien. A poetry lesson in elementary school taught her Wintergirls (2009) about the ability of words to convey emotion, a lesson The Impossible Knife of Memory (2014) that was key to her development as a writer. Children’s Literature Several of Anderson’s experiences during her early Ndito Runs (1996) life would have a significant influence on her later writ- Turkey Pox (1996) ing. Her novel Speak, which chronicles a teenager’s No Time for Mother’s Day (1999) trauma and recovery following a sexual assault, draws Vet Volunteers series (2000–2013) some emotional inspiration from Anderson’s own as- The Big Cheese of Third Street (2002) sault at the age of thirteen. The novel The Impossible The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School (2009) Knife of Memory, which focuses on a teenager’s ex- Nonfiction perience with her veteran father’s post-traumatic stress Thank You, Sarah! The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiv- disorder (PTSD), is similarly personal. During World ing (2002) War II, Anderson’s father was drafted into the US Army Independent Dames (2008) and stationed in Germany, where he witnessed the hor- rors of the Dachau concentration camp. In later life he, much like the father in the novel, struggled with PTSD and alcohol abuse because of his wartime experiences. Anderson attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School in upstate New York and spent her senior year study- ing abroad in Denmark. After completing high school, she attended Onondaga Community College for a time before transferring to Georgetown University in Wash- ington, DC. She graduated from Georgetown in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in languages and linguistics. Following graduation she worked a variety of jobs and exercised her love of writing as a freelance journalist. In 1996 Anderson published her first book, the chil- dren’s picture book Ndito Runs, about a young Kenyan girl who runs to school each day. She continued to write books for children, including some nonfiction books © Joyce Tenneson about notable women in American history. In 1999 she published Speak, her first young adult novel. She fol- Biography lowed Speak with a number of other novels, including Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer known the historical novel Fever 1793 (2000), Prom (2005), for her young adult novels, including Speak (1999), and Twisted (2007). Catalyst (2002), Wintergirls (2009), and The Impos- Laurie Halse Anderson married computer program- sible Knife of Memory (2014). Her novels, which mer Greg Anderson while still in college. They had two
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daughters, Stephanie and Meredith, and eventually di- Bibliography vorced. Anderson later married carpenter Scot Larrabee, Anderson, Laurie Halse. “Author Revealed.” Simon & a childhood friend who has two children from a previ- Schuster. Simon, n. d. Web. 12 May 2015.
Young_adult_literature_1-108.indd 4 3/19/16 11:49 AM The Absolutely True Diary of a dejected, punches him in the face, and many of the other neighbors on the reservation ostracize him. At Reardan, Part-time Indian however, Junior is happy to develop a friendship (and a crush) on a pretty girl named Penelope as well as a Author: Sherman Alexie (b. 1966) friendship with a smart boy named Gordy. Junior largely First published: 2007 convinces everyone his family is well-off financially, Type of work: Novel but Penelope learns how poor he is when they begin dat- Type of plot: Bildungsroman ing and he takes her to the winter dance. Time of plot: 2006 When Junior joins the varsity basketball team, he Locale: Wellpinit, Spokane Indian Reservation; Rear- finds himself playing games against the reservation dan, Washington school, and his former best friend, Rowdy, elbows him so hard that he is knocked unconscious. The audi- Principal characters ence evens boos Junior, which heightens the divide he Arnold Spirit Jr., a teenage Spokane Indian cartoonist feels between his home life and school life. When the Rowdy, his best friend, an angry, violent teenager on next game against the reservation school team comes, the reservation Junior pushes ahead to help his new team win but Mary Spirit, his older sister feels awful once he sees that his former classmates Penelope, his white girlfriend at Reardan High School are dejected. Gordy, an intelligent Reardan student Junior’s concerns at school suddenly seem less ur- gent when he experiences a number of losses. His The Story grandmother is hit by a drunk driver and dies, his fa- Arnold Spirit Jr., known as Junior, is a fourteen-year- ther’s best friend is shot in the face and also dies, and, old Spokane Indian boy who was born with extra ce- perhaps most tragically, his sister, Mary, perishes in a rebrospinal fluid on his skull, which gave him a large fire. All the deaths come about because of alcohol abuse. head, seizures, a lisp, and other physical issues. He lives Junior is devastated and begins to focus his energy on on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where many of the seeing whatever joy in life he can, making lists of happy other children mock him, calling him Globe or Orbit things in his notebook. because of his head size. His family is very poor, so Following the accidents, Junior and Rowdy get to- much so that when his dog becomes sick, they cannot gether to play basketball and end their feud. Rowdy says afford medical care and have to shoot it. Junior’s clos- that he has accepted Junior as a traveler, not someone est friend is Rowdy, a boy his age whose father physi- who has left him behind, and tells Junior to send post- cally abuses him. Rowdy is much tougher than Junior cards from wherever he goes. Junior hopes that he can and often stands up for his friend when others beat him forgive himself some day for leaving the reservation. up. Junior hopes to eventually become a comic artist As they continue shooting basketball, they do not keep or writer. score. When Junior starts high school, he is assigned a math book that formerly belonged to his mother. After real- Critical Evaluation izing that this means the reservation is too poor to afford While Junior is a charming, hopeful, and engaging nar- new books even after thirty years, he becomes angry rator, the details of his story are often quite dark. He and throws it at his teacher, Mr. P., breaking his nose. faces the violent deaths of multiple loved ones, experi- Junior is immediately suspended, although Mr. P. meets ences physical and emotional abuse, confronts racism with him during the suspension, saying he is not mad. and ostracism in all of his communities, and struggles Instead, he encourages Junior to go to nearby Rear- with poverty. Stating that he has gone to forty-two dan High School, a wealthy school off the reservation, funerals in his short life, he wryly notes, “That’s re- where he will get a better education. ally the biggest difference between Indians and white When Junior transfers to Reardan, he finds that the people.” only other Indian at the school is the school mascot. How, then, does Sherman Alexie infuse so When he tells Rowdy of his choice, Rowdy, feeling much humor and hope into a novel exploring such
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depressing topics? In part, this is accomplished by All the Truth That’s in Me the first-person narration. Readers are told the story directly by Junior, and as such, the teenager’s voice Author: Julie Berry (b. 1974) strongly guides their understanding of any situation. First published: 2013 The fact that he is able to find humor in the fact that he Type of work: Novel gets beat up constantly (stating he’s a member of the Type of plot: Historical fiction “Black-Eye-of-the-Month-Club”) allows the reader Time of plot: Late eighteenth century to also see the humor in the violent circumstance, his Locale: New England laughter giving readers permission to laugh, his hope giving permission for readers to find hope. Junior also Principal characters identifies himself as someone who loves words and Judith Finch, an eighteen-year-old girl who has been recognizes the power of language, identifying litera- shunned by her community ture as a way that he might achieve a better life. If Lucas Whiting, Judith’s twenty-two-year-old love interest words will save him later, there is no reason they can- Darrel Finch, Judith’s brother not start doing so now, as the lists of joyful things Mrs. Finch, Judith’s mother demonstrate throughout. Ezra Whiting, Lucas’s father If words are important to Junior, so too are draw- Lottie Pratt, a teenage girl who is abducted and later ings, and Alexie’s text is filled with cartoon illustrations found dead (meant to be Junior’s creations) by Ellen Forney. Ju- Abijah Pratt, Lottie’s father nior describes these drawings as “tiny little life boats” Rupert Gillis, a schoolmaster that help him survive life—indeed, they often take the more violent aspects of the narrative and make them ap- The Story proachable through the cartoon style and Junior’s hu- The narrative of All the Truth That’s in Me is told mor. Combined with the fast-moving, short chapters, through the perspective of Judith Finch, an eighteen- the drawings allow the book to jump quickly between year-old girl living in New England sometime in the a large number of social and personal issues, with the late eighteenth century. Written in the form of a journal voice and drawing style providing insight into Junior’s addressed to the young man she is in love with, Lucas condition. While the context of racism and poverty Whiting, and without dates, the novel tells the story of a seems inescapable, then, the strength of Junior’s voice social outcast living in a small Puritan community as it and his trust in language allow both the main character struggles to survive in the wilderness of early America. and the audience to realize that even those traumas can While love is the central-most theme in the story, it is be transcended. also about a young woman’s struggle to find a place and her own identity after a terrible incident that has left her T. Fleischmann, MFA shunned by the community. The story begins as Judith recalls childhood memo- Further Reading ries that involved Lucas. When she was eight, for ex- Alexie, Sherman. Interview by Margo Rabb and Leon ample, she would collect earthworms from her mother’s Lewis. Critical Insights: Sherman Alexie (2011): garden and give them to Lucas to use when he went 394–403. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. fishing. Because of this he gave her the nickname La- 2015. dybird. Judith has carried her crush for Lucas, who was
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