Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ndito Runs | 1996 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 2 | Turkey Pox | 1996 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 3 | No Time for Mother’s Day | 1999 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 4 | A Ticket to Saudi Arabia | 2000 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 5 | The Big Cheese of Third Street | 2002 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 6 | Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving | 2002 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 7 | The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School | 2009 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
Before Speak made her a household name in YA fiction, Laurie Halse Anderson was writing children’s picture books. Ndito Runs (1996) and Turkey Pox (1996) were her first published works. The books are aimed at young readers and cover a mix of topics, from a Kenyan girl who loves running to the story of Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who lobbied Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.
These books are a different animal from her YA novels, lighter in tone and aimed at a much younger audience. They show Anderson’s early career before she shifted her focus to the teenage readers who would become her primary audience.