As you no doubt have figured out by now, I am a huge fan of juvenile and teen fiction. I'd like to talk about an excellent teen writer named Laurie Halse Anderson. Anderson is very good at addressing tough issues and she creates balanced characters with whom the reader can identify. I have read four of her novels, and I would recommend them all.
The novel that introduced me to Ms. Anderson is her masterpiece Speak. Melinda starts her freshman year of high school and it is hell. Her former friends hate her and everyone at school gossips about her. She is burdened with a dark secret and she is unable to tell anyone. Her parents are concerned but preoccupied- and IT is harassing her. Will Melinda find her voice? Will she find the courage to face her fears? This is a powerful, deeply moving novel that tackles a really serious issue for teens.
In Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson discusses anorexia through the two main characters of the novel. Best friends, the girls encourage and enable each-other in their eating disorders, until one girl dies and the other is left behind, plagued by guilt. The surviving girl copes with her grief by continuing to starve herself and sabotage herself. Will she find the strength to survive? While this one didn't have the same impact for me as Speak, I thought that Anderson addressed the issue well.
In Twisted, Laurie Halse Anderson tackles another tough issue, but from a male perspective. A teen's world is shattered when he is falsely accused of rape. Will anyone believe him? This novel tackles some moral issues that are crucial to teen guys and girls. I thought that the author was very believable writing as a male. I could identify with him despite the gender difference. Excellent.
Halse Anderson takes on historical fiction in Chains: Seeds of America. The young protagonist, Isabel, is a slave girl who is responsible for her younger epileptic sister, Ruth. When their mother dies, the girls are cruelly sold to wealthy and calcualting loyalists in New York City. As the intrigues of the revolutionary war rise up around them, Isabel must decide which side she should help- which side will grant her her freedom? She is disillusioned by both the patriots and the Britons as neither side is interested in helping her or her sister. And when the cruel Mrs. Lockton sells Ruth, Isabel isn't even sure if she can find the strength to carry on. I was immediately emotionally invested in the fate of the sisters, and I was unable to put this book down. I finished it in one sitting.
In short, Laurie Halse Anderson is a great teen writer. She is a refreshing change from the superficial, poorly-written novels that have inundated the teen market.
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