Literary Criticisms 

Laurie Halse Anderson got the idea to write the novel Fever 1973 when her determination was sparked after reading an article in August, 1993. She wanted to write about the yellow fever epidemic since there is a lot of history that resonates with this time period and Laurie wanted to write these events into a book. She wanted to highlight how everyone during this time had to utilize survival and strength in order to share their story. Laurie Halse Anderson searched through many museums, as well as looking at articles of clothing and furniture that were used by Philedalphians. These historical pieces allowed her to write this novel as realistically as possible. 

Through the protagonist in the novel, Mattie, she is able to show what this time period and the epidemic looked like, as well as the effect it had on the lives around her. Overall, the main character is quite lazy, but through the infusion of history and fiction Mattie has to fight against the realities of the epidemic. Laurie Halse Anderson is able to educate people about this time by showing what kind of rituals took place during the epidemic. After each chapter, Anderson would put in quotations that were from a legitimate source she used to flawlessly intertwine history and fiction. She uses immersion to pull people into the story by including an appendix to truly understand the language that is utilized throughout the novel.

When it comes to sexual assault and rape, there tends to be a relationship between women in literature and through cultures. The location in which the sexual assault or rape takes place tends to be significant on the person as a whole. Throughout Laurie Halse Anderson’s books, the women are typically raped outdoors. The location of the sexual assault tends to lead to tension between the person and the landscapes around them as they have to deal with flashbacks of violence. Because of these flashbacks, it tends to push the victims back into their homes so they don’t have to deal with the pain of being outdoors and reliving their experience. Typically, women herding indoors tends to relate to the patriarchal belief that women should stay inside, but through the literature of Laurie Halse Anderson, it shows these women and their triumph over their experience with sexual assault and rape. 

The main character in Speak goes through the experience of being raped outdoors at a party the summer before she goes into high school. The man who raped her was Andy Evans, her continues to harrass her and the initial assault. The main character is slowly cast out by her friends, who are furious that she called the police and crashed the party in the first place. She is torn apart by having to keep this secret to herself until she eventually divulges her experience and she begins her healing process. Through this book, Laurie is able to tackle the stigma of rape by giving voice to survivors around the world. Overall, Laurie does a good job of showing the relationship between women and sexual assault but the women’s struggles tend to be overlooked in the conclusions of her novels. 

An area of struggle that Laurie Halse Andeson does a good job on highlighting is the world of anorexia. Typically, it has been shown that many adolescent girls end up struggling through this disorder in their teenage years. Laurie Halse Anderson has a specific way that she intertwines this eating disorder into her literature. Sadly, it has been shown that anorexia typically has a close-knit relationship with social media, as many young women are usually influenced by what they see on the internet. Throughout the novel Wintergirls, Laurie shows how eating turns into an interesting balance of discipline and control when it comes to how the mind of an anorexic girl functions.

In the novel Wintergirls, an 18 year old named Lia ends up dealing with her parent’s divorce, which ultimately ends up in her being hospitalized for anorexia. She struggles to find her way through life once she is released. Laurie Halse Anderson takes a unique approach when displaying how Lia’s mind operates through the lens of anorexia. Throughout the book, she is seen crossing words out of her journal and putting numbers next to them. These numbers resemble calories and how Lia is forcing away her cravings and foods out of her diet to hopefully look as skinny as girls on the internet. Laurie Halse Anderson shows readers the limitations of an anorexic mind when interpreted through self-evaluation. 

Laurie Halse Anderson highlights how Melinda is victimized by a male and she lacks the necessity to seek out help. A result from the rape is that Melinda becomes depressed and falls into silence for most of the book. Anderson shows how much of a psychological toll this devastating experience has on a person and it seems that no one around her understands. Interestingly, the reader doesn’t learn about the rape until the end of the book, but it shows that she is extremely upset and does a lot of foreshadowing. Anderson shows Melinda’s journey of coming to terms with her trauma and regaining her dignity and voice. Laurie Halse Anderson does a really good job at skillfully showing how teens deal with problems in the face of teen violence and rape. 

When it comes to introducing the novel Speak in the classroom, many teachers are worried that they will be judged and condemned by their colleagues over the book and possibly lose their jobs. The stories that Laurie Halse Anderson presents can tend to be controversial and they pose a risk to teachers who use her novels in their curriculum. There has been an idea for teachers to propose the novel Speak as an independent read so that teens can still politicize the literature they read. However, independent time and in school time tend to intertwine from time to time, leading to teachers being in fear of introducing these novels at all. Even though this book is not a waste, it teaches students about ethical dilemmas that people face every day. It allows students to take action in their literature to educate themselves on dangerous topics, such as sexual assault, or rape.