{"author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson","total_quotes":112,"quotes":[{"text":"One had to be careful with elbows and boys.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["boys","courting"],"id":14466,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["depression","rape"],"id":16737,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"No. Absolutely not. I forbid it. You'll have nightmares.' 'She was my friend! You must allow me. Why are you so horrid?' As soon as the angry words were out of my mouth, I knew I had gone too far. 'Matilda!' Mother rose from her chair. 'You are forbidden to pseak to me in that tone! Apologize at once.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["eating-disorders","parents","teenagers"],"id":20029,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"We tilt our heads back and open wide. The snow drifts into our zombie mouths crawling with grease and curses and tobacco flakes and cavities and boyfriend/girlfriend juice, the stain of lies. For one moment we are not failed tests and broken condoms and cheating on essays; we are crayons and lunch boxes and swinging so high our sneakers punch holes in the clouds. For one breath everything feels better.Then it melts.The bus drivers rev their engines and the ice cloud shatters. Everyone shuffles forward. They don't know what just happened. They can't remember.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["school","truth"],"id":24383,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"Slush is frozen over. People say that winter lasts forever, but it's because they obsess over the thermometer. North in the mountains, the maple syrup is trickling. Brave geese punch through the thin ice left on the lake. Underground, pale seeds roll over in their sleep. Starting to get restless. Starting to dream green.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["green","growth","north","seeds","winter"],"id":25291,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["acceptance","fears","reality-of-life"],"id":30475,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"Few people know this, but I am a trained assassin, skilled in jujitsu and krav maga. I can also, with a few folds, turn an ordinary piece of notebook paper into a lethal weapon. Or I can turn it into a butterfly, which is a great trick when I'm babysitting.'I fought a smile. 'A trained assassin who babysits.'Only the Greene twins and only because their family gets every premium channel on the planet.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["book","laurie-halse-anderson","the-impossible-knife-of-memory"],"id":36657,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"A little kid asks my dad why that man is chopping down the tree.Dad: He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["life"],"id":44918,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"Could he hear my heart pounding?","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["heart","nervous","pounding"],"id":56109,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"},{"text":"Why are you being so mean?”“Friends tell friends the truth.”“Yeah, but not to hurt. To help.","author":"Laurie Halse Anderson","tags":["friends","hurt","truth"],"id":61905,"author_id":"Laurie+Halse+Anderson"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":112,"pages":12,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}