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.
Laurie Halse AndersonIt doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts except the small smiles and blushes that flash across the room like tiny sparrows.
Laurie Halse AndersonDead girl walkingโ the boys say in the halls. โTell us your secretsโ the girls whisper, one toilet to another. "I am that girl. I am the spaces between my thighs, daylight shinning through. I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.
Laurie Halse Anderson