There's no point in asking why, even though everybody will. I know why. The harder question is "why not?" I can't believe she ran out of answers before I did. Laurie Halse Anderson More Quotes by Laurie Halse Anderson More Quotes From Laurie Halse Anderson Mr. Freeman sighs. "No imagination. What are you thirteen? Fourteen? You've already let them beat your creativity out of you! Laurie Halse Anderson beats creativity imagination We turned us into wintergirls, and when she tried to leave, I pulled her back into the snow because I was afraid to be alone. Laurie Halse Anderson wintergirls gingerbread snow I believe that you've created a metaphorical universe in which you can express your darkest fears. In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves, and sometimes we do such a good job, we lose track of reality. Laurie Halse Anderson jobs believe reality This is not our fight', the old man said. 'British or American, that is not the choice. You must choose your own side, find your road through the valley of darkness that will lead you to the river Jordan. . . Look hard for your river Jordan, my child. You'll find it. Laurie Halse Anderson fighting men children I failed eating, failed drinking, failed not cutting myself into shreds. Failed friendship. Failed sisterhood and daughterhood. Failed mirrors and scales and phone calls. Good thing I'm stable. Laurie Halse Anderson sisterhood cutting drinking Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Laurie Halse Anderson ignorance father children Principal Principal: Where's your late pass, mister? Errant Student: I'm on my way to get one now. PP: But you can't be in the hall without a pass. ES: I know, I'm so upset. That's why I need to hurry, so I can get a pass. Principal Principal pauses with a look on his face like Daffy Duck's when Bugs is pulling a fast one. PP: Well, hurry up, then, and get that pass. Laurie Halse Anderson daffy-duck upset ducks Who cares what the color means? How do you know what he meant to say? I mean, did he leave another book called "Symbolism in My Books?" If he didn't, then you could just be making all of this up. Does anyone really think this guy sat down and stuck all kinds of hidden meanings into his story? It's just a story.... But I think you are making all of this symbolism stuff up. I don't believe any of it. Laurie Halse Anderson mean believe book i decapitated dandelions all morning, leaving carnage and death strewn into my path. Laurie Halse Anderson leaving path morning Gym should be illegal. It's humiliating. Laurie Halse Anderson illegal gym should I cry to let everything out Laurie Halse Anderson cry The bathroom door swings open. Emma sees the blood painting my skin and the red rivers carved on my body. Emma sees the wet knife, silver and bone. The screams of my little sister shatter mirrors. Laurie Halse Anderson knives rivers blood It doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts except the small smiles and blushes that flash across the room like tiny sparrows. Laurie Halse Anderson sparrows hurt rooms We're good at taking care of little kids, and spend a lot of energy teaching them things like how to read. But when kids get as tall as their parents and can look them in the eyes, we tend to drop the ball - at a time they most need a loving consistent community of adults, be it parents, aunts, uncles, or others. Laurie Halse Anderson uncles teaching kids I showed her how I'd been making tiny cuts in my skin to let the badness and the pain leak out. They were shallow at first, and short, like claw marks made by a desperate cat that wanted to hid under the front porch. Cutting pain was a different flavor of hurt. It made it easier not to think about having my body and my family and my life stolen, made it easier not to care. Laurie Halse Anderson cat pain hurt I open a paperclip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this. A whimper, a peep? I draw little window cracks of blood, etching line after line until it stops hurting. Laurie Halse Anderson suicide hurt blood I needed to hear the world but didn't want the world to know I was listening. Laurie Halse Anderson listening want world It's a shame we can't just admit that we failed family living, sell the house, split up the money, and get on with our lives. Laurie Halse Anderson splits shame house Each reader has to find her or his own message within a book. Laurie Halse Anderson reader messages book I reach for funny books all the time to help me get through life. Laurie Halse Anderson funny-book helping book