Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Shy Child: Helping Children Triumph Over Shyness | 2000 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 2 | Independent Dames: The Women and Girls of the American Revolution | 2008 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
| 3 | Shout | 2019 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Buy |
Laurie Halse Anderson’s non-fiction work spans three very different books. The Shy Child (2000), co-authored with Ward K. Swallow, is a parenting guide. Independent Dames (2008) is an illustrated children’s book about women and girls during the American Revolution. Shout (2019) is a memoir in verse that took twenty years of distance from Speak to write.
Shout is the standout. Anderson writes about her own experiences with sexual violence, connecting them to the themes she explored in Speak. The book is structured as poetry, alternating between personal history and direct addresses to readers. It is as much a call to action as a memoir.