Showing results by author "Laurie Halse Anderson" in All Categories

From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she's an outcast. She busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, a major infraction in high-school society, so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know glare at her. She retreats into her head, where the lies and hypocrisies of high school stand in stark relief to her own silence, making her all the more mute.

During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city frantic with disease.

Best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about and advocates for survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published 20 years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless.

High-school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background. But ever since he got busted for spraying graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn't believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just happens to be Tyler's secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.

As the Revolutionary War rages on, Isabel and Curzon have narrowly escaped Valley Forge - but their relief is short-lived. Before long they are reported as runaways, and the awful Bellingham is determined to track them down. With purpose and faith, Isabel and Curzon march on, fiercely determined to find Isabel's little sister Ruth, who is enslaved in a Southern state - where bounty hunters are thick as flies.

Despite my best intentions, I was beginning to understand how my dad saw the world. The shadows haunting every living thing. The secrets inside the lies wrapped in bullshit. Even Gracie’s box of pills was beginning to make sense. For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, trying to outrun the memories that haunt them both. They moved back to Andy’s hometown to try a “normal” life, but the horrors he saw in the war threaten to destroy their lives.

The Patriot Army was shaped and strengthened by the desperate circumstances of the Valley Forge winter. This is where Curzon the boy becomes Curzon the young man. In addition to the hardships of soldiering, he lives with the fear of discovery, for he is an escaped slave passing for free. And then there is Isabel, who is also at Valley Forge - against her will. She and Curzon have to sort out the tangled threads of their friendship while figuring out what stands between the two of them and true freedom.

As the Revolutionary War begins, 13-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate, become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss - her life - and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not being able to help save her.

Meet Kate Malone - straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, girlfriend, unwilling family caretaker, emotional avoidance champion. Kate manages her life by organizing it, as logically as the periodic table. She can handle it all - or so she thinks. Then, like a string of chemical reactions, everything happens: the Malones' neighbors get burned out of their home and move in. Because her father is a Good Man of God, Kate has to share her room with her nemesis, Teri Litch, and Teri's adorable, troublemaking little brother.

In a Philadelphia high school, who doesn’t care about the prom? It’s pretty much the only good thing that happens there, and everyone plans to make the most of it - especially Ash’s best friend, Natalia, who’s the head of the committee and has prom stars in her eyes. Then the faculty advisor is busted for taking the prom money, and Ash finds herself roped into putting together a gala dance. But she has plenty of help - and in making the prom happen, Ash learns some surprising things about making her life happen, too.

Sunita has always wanted a cat, but her parents are dead set against it. Then she finds a group of strays living in the wild, and knows she can domesticate them - even though she’s been told that these are feral cats, who see humans as their enemies. First, she convinces Dr. Mac to examine the cats, fix them, and give them shots. Then she wants to re-release the cats, now healthy, into the neighborhood. The problem is, the neighbors consider the cats dangerous pests. Will Sunita's plan backfire?

Maggie’s grandmother runs an animal clinic, Dr. Mac’s Place, so Maggie knows her way around animals who are in danger. When she learns that the abused and sick puppies flooding the clinic are from an illegal puppy mill, she knows that she has to find out who’s running it, where it is - and save the rest of the dogs!

When Sunita joins Dr. Gabe and another Vet Volunteer on a house call at a local horse farm, she is concerned to discover a lone lamb housed in one of the stalls. She knows that sheep are flock animals, and that without other sheep and lambs around, this little lamb will not thrive. Can she and her fellow Vet Volunteers help educate the owner, and find a new home for it with others of its kind?

As soon as he sees Trickster, the new horse at Quinn’s Stables, David knows he’s found the horse he was born to ride. But David’s got a reputation as a troublemaker...and Trickster’s still recuperating from an accident. David is determined to clear his name and prove to Mr. Quinn that he’s worth taking a chance on. Can he reach his goal?

Zoe is back in Ambler after living with her mom in Los Angeles, and she doesn't know what to feel about it. It's fun to be back with the Vet Volunteers, but Zoe misses her mom, who is filming a movie in Canada. Meanwhile, there seems to be a rash of animals being poisoned by antifreeze across the town, and Zoe fears that David's new adopted cat, Rover, might be one of them. So the gang works to raise awareness about antifreeze poisoning, and Zoe's mom has a special surprise in store for everyone.

There's a flock of parrots in Zoe's backyard! No one knows where they came from, but they aren't as big a surprise as the sight of Zoe's mother, who has just arrived from California. She wants Zoe to move back home with her - something Zoe has been waiting to hear for months. But why does leaving Ambler and Dr. Mac's place seem so much harder than she expected?

When the Vet Volunteers find some abandoned ducklings, they know there's no time to lose. Without a mother, the ducklings must learn to swim on their own. But where did they come from? When Brenna and the rest of the Volunteers learn that the ducklings are abandoned Easter pets, they hatch a plan to educate their community about baby animals—but they also must teach the ducklings to swim before it's too late.

Sunita Patel is book smart and good with cats. When a hurricane approaches, Sunita realizes that Lucy, a diabetic cat with a broken leg, is in danger, along with her owner, Mrs. Clark. When the vets are called out on emergency, the evacuation starts. Will Sunita be able to save Lucy, or will she be a scaredy-cat?

Someone's been setting animal traps in the nature preserve behind Brenna's house. She and her older brother, Sage, are furious - not only is that illegal, it's hurting and killing defenseless animals where they should be safe. They both want to do something, but Brenna's worried that Sage may have some really extreme plans in mind. Can she rein him in?