About Laurie Halsen Anderson

Laurie Halsen Anderson was born on October 23rd, 1961 in Postdam in Northern New York State. When she was young, the only thing that she wanted was world peace. As a child, her favorite type of book was Historical Fiction. She loved writing but only thought of it is a hobby. She began as a freelance reporter. She soon began to write all types of books. Her first book was called "Ndito Runs" which was published in 1996. She wrote a few non-fiction books, but the point of that was really for extra money. She soon became interested in really writing books. When she wrote her book "Speak," and that's when agents started to call her about how her books were great. Children worte letters to her tell of how great her work was. She now writes books for children and with the theme 'coming of age' meaning going through a state in your life as a young person with either overcoming something you're going through or learning a real lesson through life. She wrote about Twisted and Speak because she wanted to tell others about the things that she has heared other teenagers go through. Now many teens love the book Speak and teachers use this book in book clubs when doing there coming of age unit.