Quotes from Laurie Halse Anderson

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.

You'd be shocked at how many adults are already dead inside, walking around with no clue, waiting for a heart attack or cancer to finish the job. When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time. It's the saddest thing I know.

Had she ever enjoyed anything? Had every day been a struggle? Perhaps death would be a release, a rest for the weary.

I nod like I'm listening,like we're communicating, and she never knows the difference.

If that was life, then it was twisted.

Why don't you want to see your mom? Did she burn your dolls in a sacrificial fire? Read your e-mail?" "She wants to run my life," I explain. "What a bitch. It's like she thinks she's your mother or something." "She's a psychopath," I said. "It's complicated." "Psychopaths can't afford fur coats." "This one can.

I turned the page in Slaughterhouse Five, a forbidden book at Belmont because we were too young to read about soldiers swearing and bombs dropping and bodies blowing up and war sucking.

The gloaming that closed over us the cemetery had crawled inside his skin.

It was like looking at a knot, knowing it was a knot, but not knowing how to untie it. I had no map for this life.

This camp is a forge for the army; it's testing our mettle. Instead of heat and hammer, our trials are cold and hunger. Question is, what are we made of?

Which was better: being alive (if that was the right word) but not remembering anything, or being dead?

The time has come to arm-wrestle some demons.

The stars whirled above us and the firecrackers blazed. The moon stood watch as drops of blood fell, careless seeds that sizzled in the snow.

I smile and play pretend through the Morning Show in the kitchen.

Maybe I'll be an artist if I grow up.

I handed my tools. The two of them reached down to help me out of the crater I'd dug. ''Isn't that a little deep?'' Yoda asked. ''It'll help the roots get established,'' I explained. ''Established where? China?

The merry-go-round is spinning too fast. I want to get off. I want to close my eyes, or just blink.

I closed my eyes and let my enemy win.

They said I had to get fatter. I told them my goal was 080.00 and if they wanted my respect, they'd better stop lying to me. When my brain started working again, I checked their math. Someone had made a mistake because they didn't figure in the snakes in my head and the thick shadows hiding inside the cage of my ribs.

I know how bad you feel. Trapped, she says. It gets better, I promise. So much better.

What did it feel like to die? Was it a peaceful sleep? Some thought it was full of either trumpet-blowing angels or angry devils. Perhaps I was already dead.

I sent a simple smiley face, because my phone did not have a smiley face that was wrapping her hands around her own throat and beating her head against a wall.

There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for the holidays.

Don't forget how to be gentle, she warned. Don't let the hardness of the world steal the softness of your heart.