Laurie+Halse+Anderson+Biography

Laurie Halse Anderson - BIOGRAPHY
Laurie Halse Anderson was born Laurie Beth Halse (pronounced Haltz) on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York. She grew up in Syracuse, New York and, as a high school student, lived abroad as an exchange student for 13 months. She lived on a pig farm in Denmark during that time. Laurie attended Onondage Community College for two years and then transferred to Georgetown University, where she graduated in 1984 with a degree in Languages and Linguistics.

Laurie married Greg Anderson and they have two daughters, Stephanie and Meredith. She later divorced Greg and married Scott Larrabee. She lives in Philadephia, Pennsylvania currently, but plans to settle in Mexico, New York in the near future.

Laurie had been researching and working on a historical novel novel //Fever// //1793// since 1993, when she stopped to write //Speak//in 1999, her first novel to be published. //Speak// turned out to be an amazing success and has been highly honored by critics and readers. Laurie later completed and published her novel //Fever// //1793// in 2000. She has written several other novels, including a follow-up to //Speak////.// The novel //Catalyst// was published in 2002 and is set in the same high school as //Speak////.// Some of the characters from //Speak// make brief appearances in //Catalyst.//

The author can be visited at her website at www.writerlady.com.

Awards for //Speak// include:


 * A 2000 Printz Honor Book
 * A 1999 National Book Award Finalist
 * An Edgar Allen Poe Award Finalist
 * Winner of the Golden Kite Award
 * An ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults
 * An ALA Quick Pick
 * A //Publishers// //Weekly// Best Book of the Year
 * A //Booklist// Top Ten First Novel of 1999
 * A //BCCB// Blue Ribbon Book
 * An //SLJ// Best Book of the Year
 * A //Horn// //Book// Fanfare Title

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