Revision means throwing out the boring crap and making what’s left sound natural. Laurie Halse Anderson More Quotes by Laurie Halse Anderson More Quotes From Laurie Halse Anderson I know my head isn't screwed on straight. I want to leave, transfer, warp myself to another galaxy. I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else. There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me. My closest is a good thing, a quiet place that helps me hold these thoughts inside my head where no one can hear them. Laurie Halse Anderson mistakememorieshands Can the plural possessive express the feelings in your heart? If you don't learn art now, you will never learn to breathe! Laurie Halse Anderson breathefeelingsart I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don't have anyone to sit with. Laurie Halse Anderson hairattitudeschool My first class is biology. I can't find it and get my first demerit for wandering the hall. It is 8:50 in the morning. Only 699 days and 7 class periods until graduation. Laurie Halse Anderson classmorningfirsts be aggressive, BE-BE Aggressive! B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E Laurie Halse Anderson aggressive I make it through the first two weeks of school without a nuclear meltdown. Laurie Halse Anderson nucleartwoschool I am getting better at smiling when people expect it. Laurie Halse Anderson get-betterspeakpeople Nicole can do anything that involves a ball and whistle. Laurie Halse Anderson nicolehilariousballs I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey cheerleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up.IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'd throw up. Laurie Halse Anderson lipswake-uptogether Eating plain toast will detonate her. "I'll have some honey." When the bread is done I scrape on a microscopic layer of it and pour a cup of coffee, black. She pretends not to listen or watch as I crunch through my breakfast. I pretend that I don't notice her pretending. Laurie Halse Anderson blackcoffeewatches Here stands a girl clutching a knife. There is grease on the stove, blood in the air, and angry words piled in the corners. We are trained not to see it, not to see any of it. . . . Someone just ripped off my eyelids. Laurie Halse Anderson girlairblood None of [the books are] worth reading. There are no fairy tales, no faerie tails, no sword-swinging princesses or lightning-throwing gods. Laurie Halse Anderson princessreadingbook Homework is not an option. My bed is sending out serious nap rays. I can't help myself. The fluffy pillows and warm comforter are more powerful than I am. I have no choice but to snuggle under the covers. Laurie Halse Anderson powerfulnapsfunny My parents didn't raise me to be religious. The closest we come to worship is the Trinity of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. I think the Merryweather cheerleaders confuse me because I missed out on Sunday School. It has to be a miracle. There is no other explanation. How else could they sleep with the football team on Saturday night and be reincarnated as virginal goddesses on Monday? Laurie Halse Anderson religiousmondayfootball I just thought of a great theory that explains everything. When I went to that party, I was abducted by aliens. They have created a fake Earth and fake high school to study me and my reactions. This certainly explains cafeteria food. Laurie Halse Anderson fakepartyschool To keep up appearances, I stomp my room and slam the door. Laurie Halse Anderson appearancedoorsrooms It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache. Laurie Halse Anderson notebookhatemorning 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 blockdadsummer 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. Laurie Halse Anderson girlbookfall I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through. Laurie Halse Anderson daylightspaceshining
