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Overview
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781101157244 |
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Publisher: | Penguin Young Readers Group |
Publication date: | 02/02/2006 |
Sold by: | Penguin Group |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 224 |
Sales rank: | 481,491 |
Lexile: | HL690L (what's this?) |
File size: | 1 MB |
Age Range: | 12 - 17 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
1.
Once upon a time there was an eighteen-year-old girl who dragged her butt out of bed and hauled it all the way to school on a sunny day in May.
2.
That was me.
3.
Normal kids (like me) thought high school was cool for the first three days in ninth grade. Then it became a big yawn, the kind of yawn that showed the fillings in your teeth and the white stuff on your tongue you didn’t scrape off with your toothbrush.
Sometimes I wondered why I bothered. Normal kids (me again), we weren’t going to college, no matter what anybody said. I could read and write and add and do nails and fix hair and cook a chicken. I could defend myself and knew which streets were cool at night and which neighborhoods a white girl like me should never, ever wander in.
So why keep showing up for class?
Blame my fifth-grade teacher.
Ms. Valencia knew she was teaching a group of normal kids. She knew our parents and our neighborhood. Couple times a week she’d go off on how we absolutely, positively had to graduate from high school, diploma and all (like the GED didn’t count, which was cold), or else we were going straight to hell, with a short detour by Atlantic City to lose all our money in the slot machines. She made an impression, know what I mean?
Every kid who was in that fifth-grade class with me was graduating, except for the three who were in jail, the two who kept having babies, the one who ran away, and the two crack whores.
The rest of us, we were getting by.
I was getting by.
4.
It had been a decent morning, for a Tuesday. No meltdowns at home. The perverts outside the shelter left me alone, and the Rottweiler on Seventh was chained up. A bus splashed through the puddle at the corner of Bonventura and Elk, but only my sneakers got soaked. It could have been worse. At least the sun was shining and some of my homework was done.
So I got to admit, I was in a half-decent mood that morning, dragging myself and my butt to school.
I had no clue what was coming
What People are Saying About This
"...teens will love Ashley's clear view of high-school hypocrisies, dating and the fierce bonds of friendship." Booklist, starred review
Interviews
Q&A with author Laurie Halse Anderson
Where were you born?
Potsdam, NY way up in Northern New York state.
Where did you go to high school?
Fayetteville-Manlius High School in Manlius, NY and the Hong Studenter og HF Kursus in Hong, Denmark. (Note the "o" in Hong should have a diagonal line through it - it's one of those funky Scandinavian vowels.)
Were you a good student?
Ha. Oh, ha.
What were you like when you were growing up?
Quiet.
What were your favorite books?
Science fiction and fantasy
What was your family like?
Struggling. My parents loved us, but they had many, many complications in their lives from their jobs and other painful personal stuff going on. My sister and I were on our own a lot.
Are any of your other characters based on you or your family?
I think the sense of humor is like that of my family's. We are very good at laughing.
Did you go to your prom?
I went to my junior prom, and to the junior prom of my boyfriend. He went to a different school. The theme at mine was, no joke, "Stairway to Heaven". It was the '70s. For my senior prom, I was in Denmark. No proms there, just a lot of pigs and great pastry.
How much do you think proms have changed over the years?
People pour way more money into them, but I think the overall experience is the same. It can be a blast or a nightmare. A lot of it has to do with having realistic expectations, and making sure you hang out with people you like, instead of being somebody that you're not.
If you could take any president/celebrity to the prom, which one would
you choose and why?
I'd take Ashton Kutcher because he looks like he'd be a lot of fun.
If you went to the prom this year, what would you wear?
Something that shows off my biceps.
Did you do anything special to gear up for writing about Prom?
Went back to my favorite research spot - the food court at the mall.
What's your advice for making prom the most memorable night?
Stay sober. Nothing says "Prom Loser" quite like vomit on a four hundred dollar dress.
Do you have a favorite place to write?
I can write pretty much anywhere. Listening to my iPod helps me write in crazy places like airports.
What's on your Ipod?
You're kidding, right? I have 2 days worth of music and a collection of David Sedaris essays. The artists who are played most often include Joan Osborne, Natalie Merchant, Pachabel, Sting, Nirvana, the Allman Brothers, Dave Matthews and U2. Oh, and Bruce. This gadget qualifies as my number favorite toy of the century. I would rather have an iPod than a microwave, I swear.
Do you have plans to write any more books?
Oh, yeah!!!! I got a million of them!
What were some of your previous jobs before you became an author?
Best job - milking cows. Worst job - stockbroker. Job I'd go back to if I quit writing books - newspaper journalist... or maybe milking cows. You don't have to deal with obnoxious people on a dairy farm. You just have to watch where you step.