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It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.

Laurie Halse Anderson

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Laurie Halse Anderson
Age: 62
Born: 1961
Born: October 23
Novelist
Screenwriter
Writer
Laurie Beth Halse
School
Skirt
Firsts
Skirts
First
Notebook
Seven
Morning
High
Hate
Speak
Notebooks

More quotes by Laurie Halse Anderson

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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
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I was good at digging holes. It was the rest of life I sucked at.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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i decapitated dandelions all morning, leaving carnage and death strewn into my path.
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You have to know what you stand for, not just what you stand against.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I swallowed the fear. It’s always there– fear– and if you don’t stay on top of it, you’ll drown. I swallowed again and stood tall, shoulders broad, arms loose. I was balanced, ready to move. My body said, “Yeah, you’re bigger and stronger, but if you touch this, I will hurt you.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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Why not draw naked guys, just to be fair? Naked women is art, naked guys a no-no, I bet. Probably because most painters are men.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I look at my homely sketch. It doesn't need anything. Even through the river in my eyes I can see that. It isn't perfect and that makes it just right.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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Don't expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I need to finish this scarf/shawl/blanket thing so I can start something for Emma- a hat, maybe, or a sweater for her stuffed elephant.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?
Laurie Halse Anderson
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Because I am still a little girl who believes in Santa and the tooth fairy and you.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I wish adults would spend less energy freaking out about the cutting itself and work harder to understand what drives kids to self-harm.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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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.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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The stuffing/puking/stuffing/puking/stuffing/puking didn't make her skinny, it made her cry.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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CONJUGATE THIS: I cut class, you cut class, he, she, it cuts class. We cut class, they cut class. We all cut class. I cannot say this in Spanish because I did not go to Spanish today. Gracias a dios. Hasta luego.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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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
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The one good thing about being kind of shy is that nobody bugs you when you want to be left alone.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I am so sorry. I wish you knew even one tenth of one percent of how sorry I am. ...It was my fault. Can I kill myself here, or should I do it outside, so the mess on your carpet doesn't upset your mother?
Laurie Halse Anderson
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She cannot chain my soul. Yes, she could hurt me. She'd already done so...I would bleed, or not. Scar, or not. Live, or not. But she could not hurt my soul, not unless I gave it to her.
Laurie Halse Anderson
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I don’t know what I’m doing in the next five minutes and she has the next ten years figured out. I’ll worry about making it out of ninth grade alive. Then I’ll think about a career path.
Laurie Halse Anderson