Quicklist of Books

Laurie Halse Anderson

Mauris lorem! Author Contact Information:

Mail:

Laurie Halse Anderson P.O. Box 906 Mexico, NY 13114 Email: laurie@madwomanintheforest.com Follow Laurie Halse Anderson on: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and SchoolTube. Laurie Halse Anderson is not currently available for school visits, but you can have students visit with her via Skype.

Biography Laurie Halse Anderson was born October 23, 1961, in Potsdam, New York. She began her writing career as a free-lance journalist but longed to get her stories published. After many rejections she found a supportive writing group to join called the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and they helped her hone her writing. Laurie writes children’s picture books, YA novels, nonfiction, and historical fiction.

Young Readers Historical Fiction

Fever 1793

Chains

Forge

YA Novels

Speak

Catalyst

Wintergirls

Twisted

Prom

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher

Goes to School

Vet Volunteer Series

Nonfiction

Thank You, Sarah!

Independent Dames

Hard to Find Turkey Pox

No Time for Mother’s Day

Ndito Runs

Big Cheese of Third Street

Carlota Foreman

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Nonfiction Book Information:

Anderson, L.H. (2008). Independent dames. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

This nonfiction book gives insight into the culture of the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia. Anderson includes information about their culture, their religion, their

daily lives, and their education. She also provides details about Saudi Arabia’s location, landforms, and climate.

Anderson, L.H. (2002). Thank you Sarah: The woman who saved Thanksgiving. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Laurie Halse Anderson is actually related to the Sarah Hale that she speaks of in this book. Sarah Hale played a key role in having Thanksgiving made a national

holiday. This book tells the story of how she made it happen, in an age when women were not given much credibility and/or power.

Anderson, L.H. (2007-2012). Vet volunteers (Vols. 1-14). New York: Puffin Books.

This series for young readers highlights different characters and their individual quests to help the animals they feel are in danger. Each book

highlights a different character (or characters) and the different animals they wish to help.

Anderson, L.H. (2009). The hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher goes to school. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.

This fun book is about a young imaginative girl with unruly hair. Her hair helps her do many things, including brush her teeth and get her ready for

school. Her first grade teacher outlaws unruly hair and Zoe has to try to tame her wild tresses. In the end, will Zoe learn a lesson, or will her teacher?

Young Readers Book Information:

Video Accompaniment for Thank you, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving

Welsh, D. (Producer). (2004). Thank you, Sarah: The woman who saved Thanksgiving. United States: Spoken Arts.

This video, narrated by Donna Coney Island, uses the actual illustrations from the picture book to help young readers visualize the events of the story.

Anderson, L.H. (2001). Saudi Arabia. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, Inc.

This charming book explains how men were not the only participants in the fight for independence. Halse gives specific and researched examples of the

many women who bravely did their part to help achieve independence.

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Historical Fiction Book Information:

Anderson, L.H. (2000). Fever 1793. New York: Scholastic, Inc. In the summer of 1793 yellow fever spread throughout Philadelphia, claiming many lives. Mattie must flee the city with her grandfather and leave her ailing

mother behind. When she returns she finds many differences and must learn how to run the family coffee house on her own.

Anderson, L.H. (2008). Chains. New York: Scholastic, Inc. Isabel and her five-year-old sister are slave children. Their original master promised to free them but died before creating the official paperwork, so

Isabel and her sister were sold to a new master. Isabel’s sister is ill, and her master’s wife sends her away. Isabel must decide if she should try to buy her

freedom and look for her sister by becoming a spy for the Patriots.

Anderson, L.H. (2010). Forge. New York: Scholastic, Inc. In this sequel to Chains, Isabel is on the run and is still looking for her missing sister. Curzon, a slave that she helped to escape, is with her but they part ways

after an argument. Once they are both captured they meet up again and must find a new way to escape. Meanwhile, the Patriots and Loyalists are still at

war around them.

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. New York: Penguin Group. Speak is the story of a young girl who becomes an outcast because of her decision to call the police during a party with underage drinking. As readers become acquainted with Melinda they begin to realize that there is something that Melinda is hiding about what really happened that night.

YA Book Information:

Movie Adaptation of Speak:

Sharzer, J. & Young-Frisbie, A. (Producers), & Sharzer, J. (Director). (2004). Speak [Motion Picture]. United States: Showtime Networks Inc.

Additional Book Information:

This full-length film tells the story of Melinda, who is introduced in the novel Speak. Because of this movie, viewers get to see the fictional tale of Melinda come to life.

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Additional YA Book Information:

Anderson, L.H. (2002). Catalyst. New York: Viking. Kate Malone is a perfectionist and keeps her life planned to the minute. She makes great grades, is an exceptional athlete, dates a boy from a prestigious family, and applied to MIT. Her world gets flipped upside down when her neighbors move in and she has to start sharing her room with her nemesis Teri and Teri’s little brother and then she gets a rejection letter from the only college to which she applied. These events serve as a catalyst that forces Kate to start seeing things differently. Anderson, L.H. (2005). Prom. New York: Viking. Ashley could care less about attending her school’s prom, but her best friend Nat is on the planning committee. The high school sponsor runs off with all of the dance funds just 10 days before the dance, and Ashley gets roped into helping Nat plan a spectacular event. This light-hearted novel is a stark contrast to Anderson’s more serious YA novels. Anderson, L.H. (2007). Twisted. New York: Penguin Group, Inc. Twisted starts off on a humorous note as Tyler Miller starts his senior year of high school. Because he spent the summer doing manual labor to atone for a prank he pulled including graffiti, he returns to school more muscular than ever. This catches the attention of one of the most popular girls in school and she invites him to a party where he gets blamed for things he didn’t do. This book is aptly named because the situation is twisted out of proportion and Tyler’s life changes because of these events. He begins to think of dark ways to end his suffering and he starts questioning his place in the world. Anderson, L.H. (2009). Wintergirls. New York: Viking. In this captivating book Anderson confronts the issue of anorexia. Lia and her friend Cassie compete to see who can become the thinnest. Cassie’s mother blames Lia for her daughter’s body image issues and they stop speaking. However, Cassie calls Lia 33 times on the night of her death and Lia feels extremely guilty for not answering the phone. Even the death of her friend, and her overwhelming guilt, can’t stop Lia from continuing to lose weight. Her easily duped parents are too busy to see what is happening to their daughter. Can she be saved before it’s too late?

“Hard to Find” Book Information:

Anderson, L.H. (1996). Ndito runs. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Anderson, L.H. (1999). No time for mother’s day. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman &

Company.

Anderson, L.H. (2002). The big cheese of third street. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Anderson, L.H. (1996). Turkey pox. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

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Websites

Anderson, L.H. (2012). Laurie Halse Anderson. Retrieved from http://madwomanintheforest.com/ This website contains information about all of the available and out of print books written by Laurie Halse Anderson. She includes information in her student pages for young readers to explore the subject of writing and she also includes information in her teacher pages that provides teachers with additional information about her novels and how they can be used in the classroom. On the teacher page teachers can find a link to a discussion board specifically created so that teachers could share insights and activities that they have used with their students. Housed in her website is also a blog that she updates periodically so that interested readers can have updated information about Anderson’s current projects and events. Scholastic, Inc. (2012). Laurie Halse Anderson. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers

/bookwizard/books-by/laurie-halse-anderson

The Scholastic website is great because not only does it include a listing of all of Laurie Halse Anderson’s books, but it also includes the interest level, grade level equivalent, and genre and theme information. It also includes a biography section so that students can learn more about the author. Goodreads. (2012). Laurie Halse Anderson. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/

show/10003.Laurie_Halse_Anderson

The Goodreads website is great because it contains information about Laurie Halse Anderon’s books and also contains reviews by real readers. Students can use this website to find out more about Anderson’s books and they can see how other people re rating the novels.

Website for Historical Fiction Novel Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011) Yellow fever. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov /yellowfever/ This website contains information about yellow fever that could be used to set background knowledge with students prior to reading Fever 1793. On this website students can learn the symptoms and treatment of the disease, along with ways of preventing the disease from spreading.

Resources Laurie Halse Anderson [Photograph]. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from

http://www.barnes andnoble.com/w/fight-for-life-laurie-halse-anderson/1100315809 Spoken Arts Media of Westchester, Inc. (2012). Study Guides. http://www.spokenartsmedia. com/

StudyGuides.htm Book Images. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://madwomanintheforest.com/ Speak Movie Image. Retrieved October 20, 2012, from http://sharetv.org/movies/speak_2004

Revo lu t io na ry Wa r Lesson I dea s

Objective: Students will understand the details surrounding the Revolutionary War

by engaging in activities that ask them to read and reflect on information found in

nonfiction and fictional texts.

Supplies:

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Chris Collier

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Independent Dames by Laurie Halse Anderson

Classroom textbook

Suggested Tasks:

1. Read excerpts of all books with students. Ask them to place events on a combined timeline and

discuss similarities and differences.

2. Create a chart with the students of real people and events and fictional characters and events and

have students participate in classroom discussion during the creation of the chart. Add to the chart

as more new information is learned throughout study.

3. Have students create newspaper articles (fictional or real) based off of their readings using any of

the information they have learned from the different materials.

4. Ask students to create a readers theater or short play dramatizing the events of the readings

(fictional or real). Allow them to dress up for their parts.