This morning I thank Sarah Weber of BookPage for her glorious review of This Is the Story of You:
... Kephart's liquid prose drives the story, fueling the reader's own emotional turmoil and rendering Mira and her friends brave and loyal despite their fear. Kephart's worldbuilding is meticulous and vivid, with details that make Haven feel like a place out of time.
This smart, poignant novel is an absolute pleasure to read.
Just as I thank Carrie Gelson, self-proclaimed Book Fanatic and author of the blog, There's a Book for That, for her kind inclusion of
This Is the Story of You in this
Must Read 2016 Spring Roundup.
One Thing Stolen has had a two-step launch—last Tuesday, this Tuesday—and that seems to fit this old amateur dancer just fine.
Today I want to thank all of you who have been so kind to this book in its early days—who took the reading risk, who made room for Nadia and Maggie, and Katherine, Florence and West Philadelphia, neuroscience and a raging flood, who wrote words of encouragement. I don't write books that fit into established patterns, and there are, of course, consequences. But I can't imagine doing books or this life any other way, and I'm so grateful to be on this journey with you. I'm grateful, too, to the entire Chronicle Books team and to my editor Tamra Tuller.
In lieu of a launch party for
One Thing Stolen, I'll be traveling to a few local venues to talk either about this book or about the writing life. The events are here, below. If you are out and about, I'd love to see you.
April 18, 2015
Little Flower High School Teen Writers & Readers Festival
Little Flower High
Philadelphia, PA
April 23, 2015
Let Us Be Honest
A New Directions in Writing Memoir Workshop
Residence Inn
Pentagon City, VA
details here
May 3, 2015, 1 PM
Schulykill River/FLOW presentation
Ryerss Museum
7370 Central Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
May 20, 2105, 7 PM
Body, Mind, Heart, Soul:
The Whole Self in Contemporary YA
IW Gregorio, Beth Kephart, Margo Rabb, Tiffany Schmidt
Children's Book World
Haverford, PA
June 5 - 7, various times
Moravian College Writers Conference
Keynote Address, Panel, Conversation with A.S. King
Foy Hall
Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus
More information here
June 27, 1 - 5 PM
Arcadia University
Creative Writing Summer Weekend
Master Class/Reading/Q&A
450 South Easton Road
Glenside, PA 19038
More information hereAdditionally, I am grateful for the blog tour, which begins today and was organized by Lara Starr of Chronicle Books. A schedule can be found
here.Finally, I'm grateful for these recent reviews, fragments presented here. To read all official trade reviews as well as some early blog reviews, press releases, and the official teaching guide, please go
here.BookPageOne Thing Stolen explores themes of destruction and rejuvenation, emphasizing the possibilities and hope found in disaster. This is a unique and engrossing exploration of how characters deal with the pain and beauty of the real world. — Annie Metcalf Sarah Laurence
One This Stolen offers no easy solutions but still leaves the reader with hope. I'd strongly recommend this literary novel to adults and to teenagers who are interested in psychology, art, history and Italy. Kephart does a marvelous job with a difficult topic.— Sarah LaurenceAnd now I am off to Penn, to teach my immaculate Spectaculars and to meet a few prospective Quakers who sound spectacular in their own specific ways. We're hosting the superlative Jeff Hobbs via Skype today. Jeff's The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is a seminal reflection on possibilities and choices (my thoughts on it here), and he's going to tell us how it came to be.
Wow. What a happy thing to learn from dear Florinda that
BookPage named
Handling the Truth a Top Ten Book for September. Thrilled about this, of course.
And full of gratitude.
The full list is
here.
My friend Ed Goldberg sent me a note yesterday to say that a copy of the August 2012 edition of
BookPage—the real, live
BookPage—had appeared in his own library.
This made me happy indeed, for this issue of that fine magazine includes a conversation I had with the magnificent
Abby Plesser,
"Home is Where the Heart Is." I had received an early PDF copy of the story and had been able to share it on the blog, but I'm thrilled today to share the
live link. Abby and BookPage, I will always be grateful.
Not long ago I sat in a local coffee shop with a young woman who dazzled. Yes, that's the word. She'd found her way to the very beating heart of the publishing world as a young Vanderbilt graduate, moved from the Big Apple to the south to work as the BookPage fiction editor, and today works as a content manager for a suburban Philadelphia brand consulting firm, writing freelance pieces for BookPage on the side. Beyond us, the little town of Wayne was having an outdoor festival. Between us, the talk was books and work. I adored her within seconds. She asked smart questions. She listened.
Abby Plesser (for that is this wunderkind's name) had been asked to interview me for a BookPage feature. I could not have been a luckier soul. The conversation alone would have been enough. The resultant story is more capacious, more generous than anything I could ever deserve. The piece ends with these words, below. The whole can found
here.
Abby and BookPage, thank you. Jessica Shoffel, thank you (for everything).
No matter the audience, there is
one thing Kephart hopes readers
take away from her novel: not to
judge others. Of her protagonist, she
says, “Kenzie is very loving, intelligent,
moral. She is in a situation. I
think no less of her and I don’t want
my readers to think any less of her.”
Kephart speaks with such compassion
for her characters and such
passion for her work that it’s hard
not to be inspired by such an unassuming,
accomplished woman. Of
her career, she reflects, “I never want
to look back and say, ‘Well, my best
book was my first one or my fifth or
my seventh,’ so I’m highly motivated
to not just slide. I try to break form
or go to a new place in the world
or tell a story that hasn’t been told
before. I’m invested in challenging
myself and going to the verge or taking
the risk.”
Small Damages is a book well
worth the risk. Kephart has created a
lyrical, beautiful story about a young
woman at a turning point, struggling
to reconcile her choices, find
her place in the world and discover
the true meaning of family.
1. If you want to have a chance at winning one of my pre-holiday giveaways (i.e. books galore!) you need to be subscribed to my e-mail newsletter list. I try hard not to be annoying by offering fun contests and prize opportunities in every newsletter, and I only mail out six or fewer newsletters per year. In our fall newsletter I gave away 3 copies of The Unwanteds, a Wake Trilogy boxed set, a copy of Cryer's Cross, and an arc of my upcoming teen novel DEAD TO YOU. Who knows what awesome prizes await you in the holiday edition! The more subscribers I have, the more I give away, so tell your friends too.
2. I had a fun interview with BookPage recently where I talk about what happens in The Unwanteds: Island of Silence (Unwanteds #2).
3. Publisher's Marketplace announced my latest sale (yay!): NYT bestseller Lisa McMann's third book in the UNWANTEDS series, again to Liesa Abrams at Aladdin, for publication in Fall 2013, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. I have plans for seven books in this series, and I will be offering a different collectible postcard (signed & numbered) with each book featuring artwork drawn by my son Kilian, who did the first one (the Eliminators):
4. If you want autographed copies of any of my books for yourself or for gifts, you can order them through my local indies, Evermore Nevermore and Changing Hands. And I'll be doing a special event with Scottsdale bookstore Poisoned Pen in early December where you can order or stop by to get signed copies as well.
5. Did you sign up for my newsletter yet? It's easy, and I won't sell or give your email address to anyone. Just go here and fill out the info in the gray box on the left.
6. Hi! I love you!
Congrats, Beth!!
Yes, Congrats