Laurie Halse Anderson
"Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them. They need us to be brave enough to give them great books so they can learn how to grow up into the men and women we want them to be."
— Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson has written books that are taught at the elementary and secondary level all the way to the graduate level at universities around the country. Since the publication of Speak in 1999, hundreds of thousands of students have read, enjoyed, and learned from her novels. She is also an author whose books have often been challenged by parents who request that they be removed from the curriculum, reading list, or library. In a letter defending her book Twisted, Mrs. Anderson wrote the following:
"The scenes in Twisted that some parents might find offensive are reflections of the reality of our nation. Many of our children are living it. They are all surrounded by peers who are living it. They watch Law & Order reruns after school, they read newspapers, they are aware of the latest scandals involving sex and violence. I wish that it were not so. I wish all our children could be raised in innocence and live out their lives without ever knowing about the darker side of the human experience. But aspects of sexuality, and violence, and death, are a part of all of our lives. Banning books does not protect teenagers. It condemns them to ignorance and puts them in danger."
For more information about Laurie Halse Anderson's views on censorship and book banning, visit her website!
— Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson has written books that are taught at the elementary and secondary level all the way to the graduate level at universities around the country. Since the publication of Speak in 1999, hundreds of thousands of students have read, enjoyed, and learned from her novels. She is also an author whose books have often been challenged by parents who request that they be removed from the curriculum, reading list, or library. In a letter defending her book Twisted, Mrs. Anderson wrote the following:
"The scenes in Twisted that some parents might find offensive are reflections of the reality of our nation. Many of our children are living it. They are all surrounded by peers who are living it. They watch Law & Order reruns after school, they read newspapers, they are aware of the latest scandals involving sex and violence. I wish that it were not so. I wish all our children could be raised in innocence and live out their lives without ever knowing about the darker side of the human experience. But aspects of sexuality, and violence, and death, are a part of all of our lives. Banning books does not protect teenagers. It condemns them to ignorance and puts them in danger."
For more information about Laurie Halse Anderson's views on censorship and book banning, visit her website!