Laurie Halse Anderson is one of America’s foremost writers for young adults. Her breakthrough novel, Speak, was published in 1999 and has been translated into many languages and adapted for film.
Judges praised her “richly expressive novels for young people” as giving “voice to the adolescent experience with sometimes brutal honesty”.
Boel Westin, the prize jury's chair, said Halse Anderson “writes about challenging topics in a way that both engages and moves us. There is a passion in her writing that goes straight to the heart."
The judges committee added: “In her tightly written novels for young adults, Laurie Halse Anderson gives voice to the search for meaning, identity, and truth, both in the present and the past. Her darkly radiant realism reveals the vital role of time and memory in young people’s lives.”
Read more about Laurie Halse Anderson and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award via their website.