Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Laurie Halse Anderson Thinks Adults Should Be Reading More YA

BuzzFeed spoke with the author about her most recent novel, The Impossible Knife of Memory, amongst other things. Here’s what we learned.


Laurie Halse Anderson has been an important and beloved voice in Young Adult literature since her debut novel, Speak, was published over 15 years ago. Since then, she's gone on to write five more YA novels, four historical fiction novels, and eight children's books. Last year, Anderson published The Impossible Knife of Memory, a story about a high schooler named Hayley Kincain whose father is a war veteran who struggles with addiction and suicide. The author isn't afraid to tackle other topics around mental health, eating disorders, sexual assault, and other serious subject matters in her literature.


BuzzFeed had the chance to catch up with Anderson and discuss The Impossible Knife of Memory, the importance of catering to teenagers during the crucial time of adolescence, and what she wishes she could tell her younger self.



Photo courtesy of Penguin Young Readers


Laurie Halse Anderson: With most books, when you're writing it, of course you think that the idea just hits you. When you have some hindsight you can see exactly where it came from. One thread was growing up with a World War II veteran father who had PTSD from his experience. My dad lived to be 86, and those memories were seared so deeply they caused him pain for all of those years, and he became an alcoholic, and there were a lot of family struggles, like many families of veterans have struggles.


The second piece was when my nephew left the army after several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Watching him try to re-integrate into civilian society really helped me understand my dad from a completely different perspective, and that got me thinking about the kids whose fathers and mothers were the new veterans from this war, and what kind of scars would they have that their kids couldn't see, that would make family life a challenge? The third part for me goes down to a little girl in Dallas, Texas. A couple years ago, I was speaking at her school, and she said to me, "Miss, are you ever going to write about a love story? Wouldn't it be nice to write something that wouldn't make you cry all the time?" That's what I tried to do with this one, it was a little bit of a different spin for me.


LHA: There's this part about writing, you can analyze technique and craft and inspiration six ways from Sunday, but at some point magic kicks in, and you're like, "Wow I have no idea where that line just came from, but I really love it." There are definitely parts of Hayley's experience that are mine. When you read that fear that's in her about when she goes home every day afraid of what she's going to find, the fear of having a suicidal parent — that was absolutely my experience. But I didn't start writing until her voice started cropping up in my head. This is the magic part; it's kind of strange, too, but the characters really do talk to you. So it was a little bit of me, but mostly her.




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9 Times Voldemort Totally Killed It

Lord Voldemort is #killingit. Literally.


Click play and scroll down!



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"When I walk in the spot, this is what I see / Everybody stops and they staring at me"


"When I walk in the spot, this is what I see / Everybody stops and they staring at me"


Warner Bros.


"I got a passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it / Show it, show it, show it"


"I got a passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it / Show it, show it, show it"


Warner Bros.


"I'm sexy and I know it"


"I'm sexy and I know it"


Warner Bros.




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24 Reasons "The Handmaid's Tale" Is The Best Novel Of All Time

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian novel about the role of women in a totalitarian state. It’s also the best book ever written.


Even though The Handmaid's Tale was published 30 years ago, the book is still widely read and beloved by readers around the world to this day.



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A lot of people even think this literary classic is one of the best pieces of literature ever written.



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The Handmaid’s Tale does a great job of highlighting issues around violence against women.



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And makes you think harder about how religion influences politics.



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Which "Heroes Of Olympus" Character Are You?

Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series is loaded with great characters. Which one are you?