SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: BUBBLY BEAUTIFUL KITTY-CORN
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.squeetus.com/
CITY: Salt Lake City
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 392
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born January 26, 1974, in Salt Lake City, UT; married Dean Hale (a writer), 2000; children: Max, Magnolia, Wren and Dinah (twins).
EDUCATION:University of Utah, B.A. (English), 1998; studied in Mexico and England; University of Montana, M.F.A. (creative writing), 2000.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Allen Communications, Salt Lake City, UT, former instructional designer. Served as a missionary in Paraguay.
AWARDS:Top-Ten Teen Book designation, American Library Association (ALA), and Josette Frank Award for Fiction, both 2003, Humpty Dumpty Chapter Book Award and Mythopoeic Award finalist, both 2004, and ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults designation, 2009, all for The Goose Girl; Newbery Honor Book designation, 2006, for Princess Academy; Whitney Award and Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction, both 2007, and ALA Best Books for Young Adults designation, 2008, all for Book of a Thousand Days; ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults designation, 2009, for River Secrets; Eisner Award nomination and ALA Notable Children’s Books, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and Great Graphic Novel for Teens designations, all 2009, all for Rapunzel’s Revenge; Mythopoeic Award finalist, 2010, for “Books of Bayern” series; Best Children’s Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, and ALA Great Graphic Novel for Teens designation, both 2011, and ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults designation, 2013, all for Calamity Jack; numerous honors from state reading associations.
WRITINGS
Work represented in anthologies, including True Heroes: A Treasury of Modern-Day Fairy Tales Written by Best-Selling Authors, edited by Jonathan Diaz, Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2015; Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever, edited by Betsy Bird, Viking (New York, NY), 2017. Contributor to periodicals, including Horn Book, School Library Journal, and Washington Post.
Several of Hale’s novels were adapted for audiobook by Full Cast Audio, read by Cynthia Bishop, including The Goose Girl, 2006, Enna Burning, 2007, and Princess Academy and Book of a Thousand Days, both 2008. Palace of Stone was adapted for audiobook, read by Bishop, AudioGo, 2012.
SIDELIGHTS
With books such as Forest Born, The Storybook of Legends, 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious, and The Princess in Black, Shannon Hale has forged a successful career as a writer for children and young adults. In addition to The Goose Girl and its companion novels in her “Books of Bayern” novel series, Hale entertains middle-grade readers in her “Princess Academy” books, while older teens enjoy her “Ever After High” series. She has also collaborated with husband Dean Hale on graphic novels as well on as the chapter books in the “Princess in Black” series.
Hale was a storyteller from an early age, writing herself into fantasy stories by the age of ten. A strong influence during her youth was her Mormon faith, as her family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She prayed frequently and attended religious services, details she includes in her first graphic memoir, Real Friends. Also a big part of her childhood was theater, the realm in which she felt happiest and made her closest friends. It was through high-school drama that she met her future husband and longtime collaborator, Dean Hale. She pursued an acting career on stage as well as television, with improvisational comedy on the side, but she sustained her interest in English and writing through university and graduate studies, and with the publication of The Goose Girl, her career as an author was born. Speaking with Michelle Garrett Bulsiewicz of the Deseret News about the value of storytelling in offering her own children guidance in life, Hale related: “If you give a whole lecture, they always tune out because it’s boring and it feels like criticism. … If you tell a story with real emotional truth in it, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, then a kid can get what they need out of it.”
The first work in the “Books of Bayern” series, The Goose Girl finds a princess determined to regain her stolen identity. Hale’s retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale was described as “wonderfully rich …, full of eloquent description and lovely imagery, and with a complex plot, a large cast of characters, and a strong female protagonist” by Connie Tyrrell Burns in School Library Journal. In Enna Burning a forest girl develops the ability to speak to fire, and Charles de Lint observed in his Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction review of this work that Hale “has a deft touch with her prose and characterization.”
“Books of Bayern” novel set amid the wars between Bayern and Tira, River Secrets follows the adventures of Razo, a seventeen-year-old spy. Razo’s saga continues in Forest Born, which chronicles the human relationships affected by these two warring kingdoms. “Hale’s accomplished writing will easily pull readers into her vividly realized world,” predicted Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg in an appraisal of River Secrets, the reviewer also praising her use of “expertly chosen, often poetic details.”
Hale treats middle-graders to another page turner in Princess Academy. In this story, Miri’s dream is to help her father and older sister quarrying the special linder stone that ensures the prosperity of their village. Miri’s talents lead her instead to a school for budding princesses, where her family’s background in quarrying and her high spirits and intelligence help her better the status of her fellow students. Featuring a fast-moving plot, Princess Academy “explore[s] the boundaries of leadership, competition, and friendship,” according to Booklist critic Anne O’Malley, while a Kirkus Reviews critic cited the “precise lyricism” in Hale’s prose.
In Palace of Stone, the second “Princess Academy” novel, Miri and several classmates journey to the capital city of Asland to attend a royal wedding, only to learn that the “shoeless,” an oppressed class, are planting the seeds of revolution. “The politics echo the French Revolution,” observed a Kirkus Reviews writer, “but Miri’s clear voice keeps the story hers and her people’s.” By her attempts to prevent bloodshed, as Eliza Langhans commented in School Library Journal, Miri “proves once again that with quick wits and brave words, one person really can change the world.”
Hale concludes her trilogy with The Forgotten Sisters. Although she is eager to return home, Miri accepts an important mission from the king: journey to the swampy backwater of Lesser Alva and establish a princess academy for three rough-and-tumble sisters in the hope that one of them will prove a suitable bride for the rival king now threatening to invade Danland. Despite Miri’s tireless efforts, war breaks out and she and her students flee to the capital where they discover a shocking secret that could change the course of Danland’s future. According to Horn Book reviewer Jonathan Hunt, “Hale is a terrific storyteller: she deftly juggles plot, character, and setting; her prose is lyrical yet economical.”
Hale opens her “Ever After High” series of fantasy novels with The Storybook of Legends, which follows the exploits of Raven Queen, Apple White, and other offspring of classic fairy-tale characters. As Legacy Day approaches and students must sign the Storybook of Legends that binds them to follow in their parents’ footsteps, kindhearted Raven grows increasingly anxious, knowing that she cannot repeat the reprehensible acts of her mother, the Evil Queen. “This mash-up of Grimm and high school angst is fun and frothy, filled with silly, clever riffs on pop culture,” reported Mara Alpert in appraising The Storybook of Legends in School Library Journal.
Described by Booklist contributor Engberg as a “captivating fantasy filled with romance, magic, and strong female characters,” Hale’s standalone novel Book of a Thousand Days recasts the Grimm Brothers’ tale of “Maid Maleen” as a diary with an Asian setting. Narrator Dashti is an orphaned teen who is dedicated to the service of her sixteen-year-old mistress Lady Saren. When the strong-willed Saren refuses to follow her parents’ dictates and marry, both she and Dashti are walled up in a dark, remote tower for seven years. Still visited—although unseen—by Khan Tegus, her secret love, Saren sustains the affair with the resourceful Dashti’s help. Although Dashti also has romantic feelings for Tegus, her loyalty to her mistress perseveres in a story that a Publisher Weekly critic dubbed “another winning fantasy” by Hale.
Hale delves into science fiction with her standalone novel Dangerous, “an action-packed SF thriller with plenty of surprises and an intriguing premise,” according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. Here she introduces Maisie Danger Brown, a scientifically minded teen who wins a competition to attend a famed astronaut camp. While aboard the world’s first space elevator, Maisie and her fellow campers are infected with alien nanotechnology tokens and gain superpowers, which they can either use for good or for evil. “This fast-paced … novel with echoes of the ‘Fantastic Four’ comics doesn’t let up for a moment,” Kathleen E. Graver noted in her appraisal of Dangerous in School Library Journal.
Hale’s collaborations with Dean Hale and artist Nathan Hale (no relation) include Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack, fanciful graphic novels set in the Old West that feature well-known fairy-tale characters. Calamity Jack is a version of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” while Rapunzel’s Revenge focuses on a lonely, long-haired teen who grows up in luxurious isolation. Praising Nathan Hale’s “magically fun and expressive” illustrations for Rapunzel’s Revenge, Cara von Wrangel Kinsey noted in School Library Journal that the book also features “witty dialogue” and a fairy-tale heroine who “is no damsel in distress.” Critiquing Calamity Jack in Horn Book, Anita L. Burkam predicted that the “steampunk-flavored fairy tale will appeal to boy-, girl-, reluctant- and eager readers alike.”
With The Princess in Black, the husband-and-wife duo opens a new series of chapter books for beginning readers. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham, the work introduces dainty and pink-clad Princess Magnolia, a member of the royal family who keeps her kingdom safe from monstrous creatures under the guise of her bold and daring alter-ego, the Princess in Black. “The action-packed text … will enthrall and is ideal for independent reading or reading aloud,” Nancy Jo Lambert commented in School Library Journal. Writing in Booklist, Kay Weisman offered praise for the “clever, adventurous, and self-reliant heroine,” and Kate Quealy-Gainer stated in the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books that the coauthors offer “amusing nods to both the Disney princess tradition and the superhero genre.”
In a sequel, The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, Magnolia must dash off to combat numerous goat-eating monsters during her grand birthday celebration. In The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde, Magnolia must attempt to rid her kingdom of ridiculously cute but endlessly hungry rabbits. A writer in Kirkus Reviews described The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party as “chuckle-inducing,” while a colleague rated The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde both “well-executed and very funny.”
Princess Magnolia creates and presents a science project in The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare. Another participant’s project goes awry, and a monster is released. Magnolia and her friends must stop it from ruining the fair. A Kirkus Reviews critic described the book as “amusing and nicely on-brand.”
Hale again collaborated with her husband on The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World, the first volume in a series. In it, they introduce the series’s fourteen-year-old protagonist, Doreen Green. Doreen keeps her alternative identity as Squirrel Girl a secret. However, when local animals are put in danger, she must use her powers to protect them. Meanwhile, she befriends a girl from school named Ana Sofia. “Middle school readers will find this a fun series of adventures,” predicted a writer in Children’s Bookwatch. A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked: “Despite a rough start, Doreen’s story offers a heroine it’s easy to go nuts over.” Julia Smith, reviewer in Booklist, suggested: “Fun, funny, and action-packed, this first ‘Squirrel Girl’ adventure will win plenty of fans.”
The Legend of Shadow High is another entry in the “Ever After High” series. Apple White, Raven Queen, and other characters from the previous books are forced to interact with students from Monster High, including Draculaura and Frankie Stein. Initially at odds with one another, the two groups eventually work together to save the World of Stories. A writer in Kirkus Reviews noted that The Legend of Shadow High “may please fans, but it’s unlikely to win new ones.” In a more favorable assessment of the volume in Booklist, Biz Hyzy suggested: “With creative twists and defrightful wordplay, this mash-up will enchant fans of the franchise.”
Real Friends is a graphic novel-memoir by Hale and frequent collaborator Pham. In an interview with a contributor to the Winged Pen website, Hale stated: “I’ve never written about myself before, let alone myself at my most vulnerable age. This story required me to open my heart and ask readers, can you care about this weird little girl who will always be a part of me? And hopefully by extension, can you also be compassionate with yourself?” In the book, Hale discusses feeling unimportant in her large family and her difficult search for one true friend. She also recalls her struggles with bullying and mental health issues. Sarah Hunter, reviewer in Booklist, described Real Friends as “a wistful, affecting, and utterly charming exploration of the realities of childhood friendship.” “Readers will appreciate Shannon’s fantastic imagination that lightens her tough journey toward courage and self-acceptance,” asserted a Kirkus Reviews critic. A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented: “It’s a wonderfully observed portrait of finding one’s place in your world.”
Hale continues the graphic-novel treatment with Best Friends, which focuses on her sixth-grade year. Shannon is now part of “The Group,” the most attractive and popular girls in her class, but bouncing back and forth between the demands and expectations of her best friend, ringleader Jen, and devoted mean-girl Jenny leaves Shannon’s head spinning. As she copes with excessive sass and friendship whiplash, Shannon also learns to cope with burgeoning anxiety and obsessive compulsion. Speaking with NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Hale related, “When I go places and talk to kids about anxiety that I had, so many of them perk up and they’ll tell me, I have an anxiety disorder, too. I go to a therapist. And they look so relieved just to say it because so many of them have been told that it’s something shameful. And if we can get the shame off of it and just say, hey, this is a hard thing a lot people go through, … then it frees the kids.”
A Kirkus Reviews writer had high praise for Best Friends, affirming that Hale captures the complex peer dynamics “brilliantly,” looks inward “with openness and honesty,” and presents a narrative that is “ultimately empowering.” The reviewer concluded, “This glimpse into middle school is insightful, introspective, and important.” In School Library Journal, Kelley Gile lauded the character depth and development, calling the perspective “terrific” and the narrative “compelling.” She concluded that “this authentic, important book will mean a great deal to many kids … who are happier following their own inclinations” than those of others.
Taking on an especially famous comic-book character, Hale teamed up with her husband to write Diana: Princess of the Amazons, a graphic novel zooming in on a period of the superhero’s youth. Speaking with Nora Krug in the Washington Post about growing up as a big fan of Lynda Carter’s TV version of Wonder Woman in the 1970s, Hale remarked, “Though I didn’t know at the time, the show was empowering. All I knew is I felt great watching it. There were so few women characters on TV who were powerful in their own right.”
As a preteen princess of the Amazons, Diana of Themyscira finds herself caught between carefree childhood and the life of a warrior, being too young to start training. As the only child on the island, she decides to fashion a friend out of clay and sand—and is surprised when the girl, Mona, comes to life. Diana is thrilled for the companionship, but as Mona starts urging her to do mischievous and troublesome deeds—like teasing, lying, and stealing—Diana has to rethink her priorities and level of respect for her elders. Writing in School Library Journal, Thomas Maluck appreciated the diversity of Diana’s “aunties” and the lush natural setting. He deemed Diana “a playful, emotionally astute morality tale about the responsibilities children and adults have to each other.” “A Kirkus Reviews writer called Diana a “cute and brightly rendered bit of backstory” that makes for “a pleasant, upbeat adventure.”
Kind of a Big Deal is a young-adult novel by Hale about eighteen-year-old Josie, who is devastated when her dreams of Broadway stardom fall flat with her first round of fruitless auditions. Swimming in credit-card debt and too abashed to return home to Arizona, she must prioritize a job as nanny for five-year-old Mia—even when that mean relocating to Montana. Feeling out of sorts as she tries to settle in, she is gifted a pair of curious spectacles that prove to have the power to thrust her into any tale she reads, and influence the outcome to boot. With real-life folks including her distant best friend and boyfriend making appearances in the stories, Josie finds herself getting a better handle on her relationships as well as her sense of self—but also at risk of getting lost in fantasy land altogether. Admiring Hale’s linguistic wittiness, a Kirkus Reviews writer observed that the “rich musical theater content will delight fans of that genre” in this “unusual journey of self-discovery.” In School Library Journal, Jennifer Miskec praised Kind of a Big Deal as “full of heart, whimsy, and flawed yet lovable characters.” Miskec dubbed it “a light and playful surrealist adventure.”
Hale and Pham launched another new series with the picture book Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn. The young Kitty of the title desperately wants to be a unicorn, and even tries to impress her animal friends with unicorn-like displays of magic and power. Alas, her efforts fall flat—until a real unicorn arrives, puts on a headband with pink ears, and befriends Kitty, now appropriately termed a “Kitty-corn.” “This newest Hale-Pham collaboration features appealing characters, laugh-out-loud humor, and clever plot twists,” noted Booklist critic Kay Weisman. In the sequel, Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn, Kitty-corn embarks on a lavish painting of Unicorn, but can’t get the picture quite right. Again praising the wit and humor that Hale and Pham inject into the series, reviewers greeted the book warmly. School Library Journal critic Louie Lauer remarked, “This humorous reminder that appearance isn’t everything combines rhythmic text with bold and comical illustrations.”
In the picture book This Book Is Not for You!, illustrated by Tracy Subisak, Hale humorously mocks the notion that certain books are for boys and others only for girls. The young boy at the center of the story, Stanley, visits his local bookmobile to check out a book about girl adventurer who fights pirates. The old man who runs the bookmobile, however, refuses to lend the book to Stanley, using the argument that so-called girl books are only for girls. Luckily, when a dinosaur shows up and requests a book about ponies, the man sees the error of his ways. In an interview with Travis Jonker in School Library Journal, Hale noted: “I have different ways I talk about gendered reading to every age group I present to. … For the youngest kids, I wanted to present it in a way they could grasp that was also funny and interactive. I know going into a school that many of those kids have been told, for example, that The Princess in Black is just for girls, and so I need to dispel that nonsense immediately.” School Library Journal critic Alyssa Annico commented that the volume offers a “a lesson in how making assumptions about a person or their preferences can cause distress and confusion.” Similarly, writing in Booklist, Becca Worthington praised the book as “a simple story, told with Hale’s delightful trademark wit and humor.”
“I love the possibilities of fantasy,” Hale told Dennis Lythgoe in a Deseret Morning News online interview. “I heard someone say once that fantasy makes adults feel the wonder of childhood again—when everything was new.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August, 2003, Anne O’Malley, review of The Goose Girl, p. 1971; September 15, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of Enna Burning, p. 232; June 1, 2005, Anne O’Malley, review of Princess Academy, p. 1784; September 15, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of River Secrets, p. 61; March 15, 2007, Mary Ellen Quinn, review of Austenland, p. 24; September 15, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Book of a Thousand Days, p. 74; September 1, 2008, Tina Coleman, review of Rapunzel’s Revenge, p. 100; October 1, 2009, Eva Volin, review of Calamity Jack, p. 41; April 1, 2014, Kirsta Hutley, review of Dangerous, p. 83; August 1, 2014, Kay Weisman, review of The Princess in Black, p. 85; November 1, 2014, Jeanne Fredriksen, review of The Forgotten Sisters, p. 56; September 1, 2015, Kay Weismann, review of The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, p. 122; December 1, 2016, Julia Smith, review of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World, p. 60; April 15, 2017, Sarah Hunter, review of Real Friends, p. 39; September 15, 2017, Biz Hyzy, review of The Legend of Shadow High, p. 55; February 15, 2021, Kay Weisman, review of Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn, p. 60; March 15, 2022, Becca Worthington, review of This Book Is Not for You!, p. 83.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, April, 2014, April Spisak, review of Dangerous, p. 406; November, 2014, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of The Princess in Black, p. 155; June, 2015, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of The Forgotten Sisters; February, 2017, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, p. 268.
Children’s Bookwatch, February, 2017, review of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
Horn Book, September-October, 2006, Anita L. Burkam, review of River Secrets, p. 584; November-December, 2007, Anita L. Burkham, review of Book of a Thousand Days, p. 680; November-December, 2008, Anita L. Burkam, review of Rapunzel’s Revenge, p. 705; March-April, 2010, Anita L. Burkam, review of Calamity Jack, p. 56; March-April, 2015, Jonathan Hunt, review of The Forgotten Sisters, p. 96; May-June, 2017, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Real Friends, p. 114; May-June, 2017, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever., p. 86.
Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2003, review of The Goose Girl, p. 910; September 12, 2004, review of Enna Burning, p. 866; July 15, 2005, review of Princess Academy, p. 790; August 15, 2006, review of River Secrets, p. 842; February 15, 2007, review of Austenland; December 1, 2009, review of Calamity Jack; August 1, 2012, review of Palace of Stone; November 1, 2013, review of The Storybook of Legends; February 1, 2014, review of Dangerous; August 15, 2014, review of The Princess in Black; December 15, 2014, review of The Forgotten Sisters; July 15, 2015, review of The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party; November 15, 2015, review of The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde; December 15, 2016, review of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl; March 1, 2017, review of Real Friends; July 15, 2017, review of The Legend of Shadow High; August 1, 2018, review of The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare; June 15, 2019, review of Best Friends; November 1, 2019, review of Diana: Princess of the Amazons; August 15, 2020, review of Kind of a Big Deal.
Kliatt, July, 2003, Claire Rosser, review of The Goose Girl, p. 12.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 2005, Charles de Lint, review of Enna Burning, p. 31.
Publishers Weekly, June 30, 2003, review of The Goose Girl, p. 80; August 8, 2005, review of Princess Academy, p. 235; September 4, 2006, review of River Secrets, p. 69; February 12, 2007, review of Austenland, p. 59; September 24, 2007, review of Book of a Thousand Days, p. 73; August 4, 2008, review of Rapunzel’s Revenge, p. 63; April 13, 2009, review of The Actor and the Housewife, p. 27; August 20, 2012, review of Palace of Stone, p. 64; August 19, 2013, review of The Storybook of Legends, p. 68; January 13, 2014, review of Dangerous, p. 70; August 11, 2014, review of The Princess in Black, p. 68; February 27, 2017, review of Real Friends, p. 103; December 4, 2017, review of Real Friends, p. S92; December 4, 2017, Daphne Benedis-Grab, author interview, p. S92.
School Librarian, spring, 2016, Jodie Brooks, review of The Princess in Black, p. 38.
School Library Journal, August, 2003, Connie Tyrell Burns, review of The Goose Girl, p. 160; September, 2004, Connie Tyrell Burns, review of Enna Burning, p. 206; October, 2005, Linda L. Plevak, review of Princess Academy, p. 161; October, 2006, Connie Tyrell Burns, review of River Secrets, p. 156; June, 2007, Sarah Krygier, review of Austenland, p. 179; September, 2008, Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, review of Rapunzel’s Revenge, p. 215; January, 2010, Eric Norton, review of Calamity Jack, p. 128; August, 2012, Eliza Langhans, review of Palace of Stone, p. 105; December, 2013, Mara Alpert, review of The Storybook of Legends, p. 114; March, 2014, Kathleen E. Graver, review of Dangerous, p. 159; May, 2014, review of The Unfairest of Them All, p. 145; August, 2014, Nancy Jo Lambert, review of The Princess in Black, p. 72; June, 2015, review of The Forgotten Sisters, p. 108; August, 2015, Amy M. Laughlin, review of The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, p. 80; September, 2019, Kelley Gile, review of Best Friends, p. 150; November, 2019, Thomas Maluck, review of Diana, p. 63; August, 2020, Jennifer Miskec, review of Kind of a Big Deal, p. 78; March, 2022, Alyssa Annico, review of This Book Is Not for You!, p. 86.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2012, Lona Trulove, review of Midnight in Austenland, p. 590.
ONLINE
American Library Association website, http://www.ala.org/ (March 20, 2014), Julie Bartel, author interview.
Deseret News, https://www.deseret.com/ (August 17, 2003), Dennis Lythgoe, “Author Born to Tell Stories”; (October 4, 2019), Michelle Garrett Bulsiewicz, “‘To Erase It Felt like a Lie’: Utah Author Shannon Hale on Including Her Religion in Graphic Novel Series.”
Fierce Reads, https://www.fiercereads.com/ (August 5, 2020), author interview.
Hub, http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/ (March 20, 2014), Julie Bartel, author interview.
Mormon Artist, http://mormonartist.net/ (February, 2014), Meagan Brady, author interview.
NPR website, https://www.npr.org/ (September 15, 2019), Lulu Garcia-Navarro, “Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham on ‘Best Friends.’”
Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com/ (August 20, 2012), Catherine Reese Newton, author profile.
School Library Journal, http://blogs.slj.com/ (May 10, 2017), Esther Keller, author interview; (April 12, 2022), Travis Jonker, author interview.
Shannon Hale website, https://shannonhale.com (November 2, 2022).
Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/ (January 26, 2020), Nora Krug, “How Shannon Hale Draws Strength from Wonder Woman, the Star of Her New Book, Even amid Boos.”
Winged Pen, https://thewingedpen.com/ (November 6, 2018), author interview.
Writer, https://www.writermag.com/ (February 22, 2019), Eliana Osborn, “Shannon Hale Interview: Girl (and Boy) Power.”*
Shannon Hale
USA flag (b.1974)
Shannon Hale started writing books at age ten and never stopped, eventually earning an MFA in Creative Writing. After nineteen years of writing and dozens of rejections, she published her first book, The Goose Girl, an ALA Teens' Top Ten. Enna Burning and River Secrets are companion books to Goose. Princess Academy is a Newbery Honor Book and New York Times best seller. Austenland, her first book for adults, is a Book Sense pick. She and her husband are co-writing a series of graphic novles for kids. They reside in Salt Lake City with their toddler son, baby daughter, and their pet, a small, plastic pig.
Genres: Children's Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, Romance
New and upcoming books
September 2024
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The Kitty Catastrophe
(Princess in Black)August 2025
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Dream on
Series
Books of Bayern
1. The Goose Girl (2003)
2. Enna Burning (2004)
3. River Secrets (2006)
4. Forest Born (2009)
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Princess Academy
1. Princess Academy (2005)
2. Palace of Stone (2012)
3. The Forgotten Sisters (2015)
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Austenland
1. Austenland (2007)
2. Midnight in Austenland (2012)
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Princess in Black (with Dean Hale)
1. The Princess in Black (2014)
2. The Perfect Princess Party (2015)
3. The Hungry Bunny Horde (2016)
4. Takes a Vacation (2016)
aka Takes a Holiday
5. The Mysterious Playdate (2017)
6. The Science Fair Scare (2018)
7. The Bathtime Battle (2019)
The Case of the Coronavirus (2020)
8. The Giant Problem (2020)
9. The Mermaid Princess (2022)
10. The Prince in Pink (2023)
The Kitty Catastrophe (2024)
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Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (with Dean Hale)
1. Squirrel Meets World (2017)
2. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2018)
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Friends (with LeUyen Pham)
1. Real Friends (2017)
2. Best Friends (2019)
3. Friends Forever (2021)
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Princess of the Amazons (with Dean Hale)
Diana (2020)
Diana and Nubia (2022)
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Kitty-Corn
1. Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn (2021)
2. Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn (2022)
3. Party Hearty Kitty-Corn (2023)
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Novels
Book of a Thousand Days (2007)
The Actor and the Housewife (2009)
Dangerous (2014)
Kind of a Big Deal (2020)
Dream on (2025)
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Novellas and Short Stories
Bouncing the Grinning Goat (2013)
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Series contributed to
Ever After High
1. The Storybook of Legends (2013)
2. The Unfairest of Them All (2014)
3. A Wonderlandiful World (2014)
Once Upon a Time: (2014)
The Legend of Shadow High (2017) (with Dean Hale)
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Spirit Animals
4. Fire and Ice (2014)
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Picture Books hide
This Book Is Not for You! (2022)
Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn (2024)
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Graphic Novels hide
Rapunzel's Revenge (2008) (with Dean Hale)
Calamity Jack (2010) (with Dean Hale)
Shannon Hale is the best-selling, award-winning author of over forty books for all ages, selling more than fifteen million copies and translated into twenty-five languages.
photo credit: Jenn Florence click for a high res, downloadable version
photo credit: Jenn Florence
(click for a high res, downloadable version)
Brief bio
Shannon Hale is the New York Times best-selling author of over forty books for preschoolers, kids, teens, and adults, including multiple award winners The Goose Girl, Book of a Thousand Days, and Newbery Honor recipient Princess Academy. One of her novels for the adult crowd, Austenland, was made into movie starring Keri Russell and Jennifer Coolidge. With LeUyen Pham, she created her best-selling graphic novel memoirs Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever, and the Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn picture books. She co-writes books with her husband Dean Hale, like the Eisner-nominated graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge (with Nathan Hale), books for DC Comics about young Wonder Woman (with Victoria Ying), and best-selling chapter book series The Princess in Black (with LeUyen Pham). She lives in Utah with their four children and two ridiculous cats.
Slightly wordier bio
New York Times best selling author Shannon Hale started writing books at age ten and never stopped, eventually earning an MFA in Creative Writing. After nineteen years of writing and many rejections, she published The Goose Girl, the first book in her award-winning Books of Bayern series. Her other books for young adults include the acclaimed fantasy Book of a Thousand Days, the sci-fi adventure Dangerous, and genre-bending comedy Kind of a Big Deal. Her books for middle grade readers include the Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy and sequels, and the USA Today best-selling Ever After High series. With Caldecott-honoree LeUyen Pham, she created her award-winning graphic novel memoirs Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever and the bestselling Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn picture books. With director Jerusha Hess, Shannon co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of her novel Austenland. With her husband Dean Hale, Shannon co-wrote: Eisner-nominee Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack (with Nathan Hale), two books about Marvel's unbeatable super hero Squirrel Girl, DC’s Diana, Princess of the Amazons series (with Victoria Ying) and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (with Asiah Fulmore), and the popular early chapter book series The Princess in Black (with LeUyen Pham). Shannon's books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and studied in classrooms from elementary schools to universities. She is a renowned public speaker and advocate for gender equality. She and Dean live with their four children near Salt Lake City, Utah.
Even meatier bio
Shannon's mother says she was a storyteller from birth, jabbering endlessly in nonsensical baby-talk. Once she could speak, she made up stories and bribed younger siblings to perform them in mini-plays until, thankfully, an elementary school teacher introduced her to the wonder of written fiction. At age 10, she started to write fantasy novels—but never managed to finish them.
Embarrassed to have such an “impossible dream,” she wrote in secret for years while pursuing acting in television, stage, and improv comedy and a bachelor's degree in English. Shannon was finally forced out of the writers' closet when she received her Masters in Creative Writing.
A few years and many rejections later, she published her first book, The Goose Girl, an ALA Teens' Top Ten and Josette Frank Award winner. Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born continue the award-winning Books of Bayern series. Princess Academy won a prestigious Newbery Honor award and is followed by bestsellers Palace of Stone and The Forgotten Sisters. Book of a Thousand Days received a Cybils award and was featured on many best of the year lists. With
Caldecott-Honoree LeUyen Pham, she’s created memoirs about her struggles with friendship and anxiety in the popular graphic novels Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever and created the adorable picture book series Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn. With director Jerusha Hess, Shannon co-wrote a screenplay based on her first book for adults, Austenland. Shot in England and starring Keri Russell, the film was a competition selection at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics. Shannon penned a sequel, Midnight in Austenland, as well as a third novel for adults, The Actor and the Housewife, which was the City Weekly readers' choice winner for best novel of the year.
Shannon and her husband Dean are frequent collaborators. They co-wrote the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge, an Al Roker's Book Club for Kids selection and Eisner nominee, and its sequel, Calamity Jack (both with co-creator Nathan Hale). With LeUyen Pham, they created the Princess in Black series of early chapter books.
In addition to their own creations, Shannon and Dean have written a number of books about characters created by others: with Mattel, the USA Today bestselling Ever After High series; with Marvel, two books about the unbeatable Squirrel Girl; with DC, graphic novels Diana, Princess of the Amazons and Diana & Nubia, Princesses of the Amazons (with Victoria Ying) and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (with Asiah Fulmore); and with Scholastic, the fourth novel in the collaborative Spirit Animals series. Shannon and Dean make their home near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, with their four remarkable children and two ridiculous cats named Misty Knight and Mike Hat.
dean&shanHALE.jpeg
Dean Hale & Shannon Hale
No photo credit needed
Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
Photo credit Alex Puvilland
Shannon’s curriculum vitae
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‘I want to write for my kids’: How motherhood shaped Shannon Hale’s writing career
Utah-based author Shannon Hale’s hit book ‘Best Friends’ was inspired by her children. Now it’s an audiobook
Published: Aug 12, 2023, 9:00 p.m. MDT
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Shannon Hale holds some of the books she has written at her home in South Jordan, Utah.
Shannon Hale holds some of the books she has written at her home in South Jordan on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Hale is leading a collective of children’s book writers condemning the banning and suppression of kids’ books. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Purchase Image
Margaret Darby
By Margaret Darby
As a New York Times bestselling author, working mother, wife and passionate reader, Shannon Hale has her hands full — literally. Raising four children, maintaining a successful career and keeping her home in order leaves almost no room for Hale to sink into a comfortable chair, pick up a book and read.
Desperate to indulge in a good story, Hale converted to audiobooks. While playing chauffeur for her kids, finishing loads of laundry and carrying out other everyday tasks required of being a mother, Hale enjoys listening to stories.
“I love audiobooks, but I didn’t always. I am a visual learner so auditory learning is really hard for me,” Hale told the Deseret News. “But I loved to read and I’ve got four kids and I’m very busy — obviously, like all of us — so I started listening to audiobooks because I wanted to read more but I couldn’t always just sit down and hold a book.”
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“(Audiobooks have) enabled me to just read so many more books than I would have otherwise and I think it’s also improved my ability to absorb auditory information, which is awesome.”
Hale’s newfound admiration for audiobooks, paired with raising four children — each with unique learning styles, challenges and interests — has “absolutely” shaped her writing career. Hale credits her children with inspiring her “Real Friends” series and the bestselling “Princess in Black” series, as well as her recent interest in creating audiobooks.
Fantasy novels such as “Goose Girl” and “The Princess Academy” are the works that earned the Utah-based author a permanent place in the writing world. “The Princess Academy” received the coveted Newbery Honor in 2006 and “Goose Girl” won the Josette Frank Award for youth fiction in 2003.
In spite of Hale’s success writing youth fantasy, as she started having kids, an enthusiasm for writing stories that would “appeal” to each of her young children overtook her interest in writing fantasy.
The author “spent three hours a day” reading to her kids, but had a difficult time finding books that engaged each of her children’s unique interests and learning styles.
“I haven’t published a fantasy novel in eight years and that’s what I was doing, one or two a year for my first decade of publishing,” said Hale. “I want to write for my kids, I want to write something that they’re just going to love.”
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“It was hard when the oldest was getting a little older and the youngest are still really young to find books that would appeal to all of them at the same time. I could not find them,” explained Hale.
She decided the world needed more stories “compelling enough to have the interest of the older reader, but also full color illustrations every single page and not too long between page flips to still keep the attention of the younger readers.”
So Hale wrote one herself.
Shannon Hale reflects on her own adolescence in ‘Real Friends’
Inspired by her own daughter, who experienced “struggles with friends” while in elementary school, Hale decided to pen the graphic novel “Real Friends” as a way to “reach her.”
Sequels “Best Friends” and “Friends Forever” followed. The books in the “Real Friends” series are memoirs about Hale’s own adolescent experiences, such as coming to terms with a maturing body, confronting disloyal friends and learning to cope with difficult feelings, such as anxiety.
The “Real Friends” series was originally published as graphic novels, as a means to include young readers who “were never going to make it through a thick fantasy novel.” Hale found that graphic novels helped make reading more accessible to kids with dyslexia, reading disorders, attention span issues or visual learners.
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But even Hale’s graphic novels left some young readers out.
“Graphic novels are leaving out kids who are blind or vision impaired or who are more auditory learners as well,” Hale explained. “A lot of kids have a really hard time decoding the image-based storytelling of graphic novels. I really wanted (‘Best Friends’) to be accessible to more readers.”
Although Hale typically does not incorporate herself in her own audiobooks, because “Best Friends” is a memoir, she decided it only made sense that she narrate it — and involve her husband and twin daughters in the process.
The Hale family teamed up for the ‘Best Friends’ audiobook
Successfully adapting a visual reading experience found within a graphic novel, like “Best Friends,” into an auditory reading experience is no small feat. But Hale pulled it off, with help from her family.
Hale thought it would be “boring” to simply read the book and describe the images on each page. To make the “Best Friends” audiobook more engaging, she decided to make the story similar to a radio drama rather than a typical audiobook.
With a full cast — including Hale’s husband and twin daughters — sound effects and music, “Best Friends” is an immersive listening experience.
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While recording the “Best Friends” audiobook, Hale’s twin daughters were in sixth grade — the exact same age as the characters in the book. It only made sense to include her 12-year-olds in the audiobook. Involving her daughters in the process was a “really cool” experience, Hale said.
“This was just one of the coolest ways I’ve ever been able to include my kids in my job,” Hale said.
Included at the end of the audiobook is a conversation between Hale and her daughters about what sixth grade is like for them, their challenges, triumphs and how their modern-day experience compares to their mother’s.
“I think it’s really fascinating for kids to see, Oh, here’s what the differences are. ... They get a kick out of those things, but what’s fascinating is how much is the same. The emotional components are the same. The struggle with friendship and a sense of belonging and finding your place are the same even in the ’80s,” said Hale.
“The only compelling reason for me to publish those books was to reach out to those kids who feel alone and help them feel a little less alone.”
Reflecting on childhood experiences was a ‘challenging’ process for Hale
Writing a childhood memoir forced Hale to return to a tender age, reliving the adolescent experiences most of us are comfortable keeping locked away.
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In “Best Friends,” Hale shares personal sixth grade experiences such as first crushes, keeping up with social pyramids and figuring out the sort of person she wanted to be. Reflecting on childhood experiences was a “challenging” process for Hale.
“It’s hard in every way. It’s hard to go back to when you were most vulnerable and relive those moments,” the author explained. “It’s hard because everybody depicted in the book are real people and I wanted to be respectful of them, to tell the true story, but also I didn’t want to hurt anybody with my memories.”
Shannon Hale look over some of her books at Daybreak Library in South Jordan on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022.
Shannon Hale look over some of her books at Daybreak Library in South Jordan on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Hale is leading a collective of children’s book writers condemning the banning and suppression of kids’ books. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Purchase Image
To dredge up decades-old memories, Hale started by “info-dumping” as many memories of her 12-year-old self that she could come up with. To unearth more forgotten memories, Hale read through old journals and letters, looked at photographs and listened to popular music from the era.
Self-doubt crept in throughout the process.
“In the middle of it you’re like, ‘I don’t know if this works,’” Hale explained. “The thoughts going through my head are, ‘Shut up, Shannon. Nobody cares that someone meets you in sixth grade.’ So there’s so much self-doubt. It’s a tricky process for sure.”
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But Hale pressed forward with the belief that sixth grade holds life lessons worth sharing and that kids deserve to hear the painful truth about adolescence.
“I think often as parents we think we need to protect our kids from the truth because it’s painful,” Hale explained. “If they see that we’re not afraid of the truth, then they realize they don’t have to be afraid either, they know they’ve got someone on their side who’s looking out for them and no matter what, they’re gonna be cared for.”
“Even in a world that’s scary, even in times that are hard like sixth grade — cause sixth grade is hard — so I try to tell them truth in a compassionate way and then trust that they’re going to take out of it whatever story they need at this moment in their life.”
Listen to the “Best Friends” audiobook on Soundcloud
Listen to Shannon Hale’s brand new audiobook “Best Friends” on Soundcloud now. The “Best Friends” audiobook is also available through Audible, Google Play and Audiobooks.com.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shannon Hale
Hale in 2016
Hale in 2016
Born Shannon Bryner
January 26, 1974 (age 50)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation Novelist
Language English
Alma mater University of Utah
University of Montana
Period 2003–present
Genre Young adult, fantasy
Notable works The Goose Girl
Princess Academy
Book of a Thousand Days
Austenland
Spouse Dean Hale
Children 4
Website
squeetus.com
Shannon Hale (née Shannon Bryner; born January 26, 1974) is an American author primarily of young adult fantasy, including the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy and The Goose Girl. Her first novel for adults, Austenland, was adapted into a film in 2013. She is a graduate of the University of Utah and the University of Montana. She has also co-written with her husband, Dean.
Early life
Hale was born on January 26, 1974, in Salt Lake City[1] to Wallace and Bonnie Bryner.[2] She is the middle child of five children; she has two older sisters, one younger sister, and one younger brother.[3] She enjoyed writing, reading, and acting as a young girl; she often created plays that she would act out with friends. She also began to write fantasy books at age 10, often featuring herself as the protagonist.[4] Her elementary school teachers encouraged her creative endeavors,[1] and, in the fourth grade, Hale announced that she wanted to be a writer as an adult. In junior high, she participated on the school literary magazine. She then attended West High School, where she cultivated passions for English and drama.[5] She took a creative writing class and worked as an editor of fiction for her high school's literary magazine.[1] She participated in both school and community theater productions, including The Secret Garden. Hale also took part in drama competitions and traveled throughout Utah and the U.S. with an improvisational theater group whose productions highlighted a range of teen issues. She met her spouse, Dean Hale, freshman year at West High School;[5] he was also involved in theater.[6] Hale has said that her theater experience has improved her writing skills, particularly in character creation and world building.[1]
She attended the University of Utah, initially majoring in both English and Theater before deciding solely to pursue the former. She served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Paraguay for 18 months[6] before graduating with a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1998.[7] She later earned a master's degree in Creative Writing from the University of Montana.[8] While studying at the University of Montana, Hale wrote 100 short stories and submitted many for publication, but none were accepted.[1]
Writing
Hale began writing The Goose Girl while in her graduate writing program,[6] and worked on her drafts of it during her lunch break while working at her instructional design job.[1] She originally planned to work in literary fiction, publishing short stories and teaching English, before writing young adult and children's books.[9] The Goose Girl became her first published novel after being met with nine rejections;[10] Hale received an offer in 2003 from Bloomsbury Publishing.[11] She based the book on her favorite fairy tale of the same name.[12] It was named an ALA Teens' Top Ten[8] and became the first of many novels in Hale's Books of Bayern series.[13] The Goose Girl also won the 2004 Josette Frank Award for fiction[14] and was reprinted by Bloomsbury in 2017.[15] Hundreds of thousands of copies of the novel have been printed in a total of fifteen languages.[1] The other Books of Bayern include Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born.[16]
Her novel Princess Academy was featured on The New York Times Best Seller list, as well as that of Book Sense and Publishers Weekly. It also received a Newbery Honor.[4] Hale said that receiving the award was an "unexpected gift" that has profoundly affected her career.[17] After the positive response from readers and reviewers alike to Princess Academy, Hale wrote its sequel, Princess Academy: Palace of Stone.[18] In 2015 she continued the story with a third installment, Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters. Hale has remarked that the series is "a love letter to education."[19]
Her first adult novel, Austenland, was also featured by Book Sense.[8] Hale and screenwriter Jerusha Hess then wrote the screenplay for a film adaptation of Austenland, released in 2013 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was then bought by Sony Pictures for $4 million.[20] Twilight author Stephenie Meyer produced the film and Keri Russell starred as protagonist Jane Hayes.[21] In 2012 Hale released a sequel novel, Midnight in Austenland.[22] Another adult novel, The Actor and the Housewife, was published in 2009[23] and was named "the City Weekly readers' choice winner for best novel of the year."[13] Hale has kept numerous rejection letters she has received from publishers, and has compiled them into one 60 foot long scroll.[4][12]
In 2017, Hale released a graphic memoir titled Real Friends, chronicling her struggles in grade school. It was illustrated by LeUyen Pham.[24] Its sequel, Best Friends, appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for graphic books and manga in April 2020.[25] In 2018, her Princess in Black series—which she wrote with her husband, Dean Hale—made The New York Times Best Seller list for children's series.[26] The two also co-wrote the graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge,[9] as well as two young adult novels for the Marvel superheroes Squirrel Girl and Captain Marvel.[27] Hale ventured further into science fiction with her own YA superhero novel, Dangerous, in 2014.[28]
Other work
Before becoming a full-time author, Hale participated in stage and improvisational comedy, studied in Mexico and the United Kingdom,[4] and worked as an instructional designer.[6]
She is an advocate for gender equality; she has noticed how her books are marketed only to girls, despite positive reception from both genders.[29] She has written a few articles about this subject.[30]
shannon and dean hale
Hale with husband Dean at the 2016 Texas Book Festival
Personal life
Hale is married to Dean C. Hale, with whom she has co-authored the Eisner-nominee graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack, as well as The Princess in Black series and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series.[31][13]
She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[32] She stopped attending the LDS church in 2021, having disagreed with her community's apparent tolerance of misogyny and intolerance of LGBTQ people, but she still considers herself a Mormon.[33] In a 2014 interview, Hale said that she doesn't "consciously make storytelling choices based on the [LDS] Church."[17] In writing her graphic novel memoirs of her childhood, Hale decided to include visual references to her religious upbringing, like her family attending church. Despite being asked to remove the references, Hale decided to retain them, stating that "to erase [them] felt like a lie."[34]
She is the mother of four children: Max, Magnolia,[8] and twin girls Dinah and Wren.[6] Hale has noted that her children give her new ideas for books "probably every day."[5]
Awards and honors
The Princess in Black was a New York Times bestseller, and Kirkus Reviews named it one of the best books of 2014.[35]
In February 2016, Hale was a Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 34th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.[36]
In 2017, Real Friends landed on Booklist's "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth" list.[37]
Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn was a New York Times and IndieBound bestseller.[38]
Awards for Hale's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2003 The Goose Girl AML Award in Young Adult Literature Winner [39]
2004 Josette Frank Award Winner [14]
2004 Enna Burning AML Award in Young Adult Literature Winner [39]
2005 Princess Academy AML Award in Young Adult Literature Winner [39]
2006 Princess Academy Newbery Medal Honor [40][41]
River Secrets AML Award in Young Adult Literature Honor [39]
2007 Austenland AML Award in Novel Finalist [39]
Book of a Thousand Days AML Award in Young Adult Literature Finalist [39]
Cybils Award for Young Adult Speculative Fiction Winner [42]
Whitney Award for Best Speculative Winner [43]
River Secrets Teens' Top Ten Top 10 [44]
2008 Rapunzel's Revenge Cybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade Graphic Novel Winner [45]
2009 Rapunzel's Revenge Leah Adezio Award for Best Kid-Friendly Work Winner [46]
2012 Palace of Stone Whitney Award for Best Middle Grade Finalist
2014 Dangerous Whitney Award for Best Young Adult – Speculative Finalist
The Princess in Black AML Award in Picture Book Honorable
2015 Princess Academy AML Award in Drama Finalist [47]
2016 The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde Cybils Award for Early Chapter Books Finalist [48]
2017 The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation Cybils Award for Early Chapter Books Finalist [49]
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Whitney Award for Best Young Adult Speculative Fiction Finalist
Friends Forever Cybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade Graphic Novel Finalist [50]
Real Friends AML Award in Comics Winner [51]
Cybils Award for Finalist [52]
2018 Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth Selection [53]
Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards: Best in Children's Books Winner [54]
Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection [55]
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl ALSC Notable Children's Recordings Selection [56]
2020 Best Friends Amelia Bloomer Book List Selection [57]
Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection [58]
2021 Friends Forever AML Award in Comics Winner [59]
Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn Cybils Award for Fiction Picture book Finalist [60]
2022 Friends Forever Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection [61]
Publications
The Books of Bayern series
The Goose Girl (2003), ISBN 1-58234-843-X
Enna Burning (2004), ISBN 1-58234-889-8
River Secrets (2006), ISBN 1-58234-901-0
Forest Born (2009), ISBN 1-59990-167-6
Princess Academy series
Princess Academy (2005), ISBN 1-58234-993-2 – adapted to a musical produced by Kensington Theatre in December 2016[62]
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone (2012), ISBN 1-59990-873-5
Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters (2015), ISBN 978-1-61963-485-5
Austenland series
Austenland (2007), ISBN 1-59691-285-5 – premiered as a movie in January 2013
Midnight in Austenland (2012), ISBN 1-60819-625-9
Rapunzel's Revenge series
The Rapunzel's Revenge series is co-authored with Dean Hale and illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation).
Rapunzel's Revenge (2008), ISBN 1-59990-288-5
Calamity Jack (2010), ISBN 978-1-59990-076-6
Ever After High series
Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends (2013), ISBN 0-31640-122-6
Ever After High: The Unfairest of Them All (2014), ISBN 0-31628-201-4
Ever After High: A Wonderlandiful World (2014), ISBN 0-31628-209-X
Once Upon a Time: A Story Collection (2014), ISBN 0-31625-821-0
Monster High/Ever After High: The Legend of Shadow High (2017), ISBN 0-31635-282-9
Princess in Black series
The Princess in Black series is co-authored with Dean Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham.
The Princess in Black (2014), ISBN 978-0-7636-6510-4
The Perfect Princess Party (2015), ISBN 978-0-7636-6511-1
The Hungry Bunny Horde (2016), ISBN 978-0-7636-6513-5
Takes a Vacation (2016), ISBN 978-0-7636-6512-8
The Mysterious Playdate (2017), ISBN 978-0-7636-8826-4
The Science Fair Scare (2018), ISBN 978-0-7636-8827-1
The Bathtime Battle (2020), ISBN 978-1-5362-1575-5
The Giant Problem (2020), ISBN 978-1-5362-0222-9
The Case of the Coronavirus (2020), digital booklet
The Mermaid Princess (2021), ISBN 978-1-5362-0977-8
The Prince in Pink (2023), ISBN 978-1-5362-0978-5
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series is co-authored with Dean Hale.
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World (2017), ISBN 978-1484781548
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious (2018), ISBN 978-1368011266
Real Friends series
The Real Friends series graphic memoirs are illustrated by LeUyen Pham.
Real Friends (2017), ISBN 9781626724167
Best Friends (2019), ISBN 9781250317452
Friends Forever (2021), ISBN 9781250317568
Standalone novels
Book of a Thousand Days (2007), ISBN 1-59990-051-3
The Actor and the Housewife (2009), ISBN 1-59691-288-X
Dangerous (2014), ISBN 1-59990-168-4
Kind of a Big Deal (2020), ISBN 9781250206237
Short stories
"Bouncing the Grinning Goat" from Guys Read: Other Worlds (2013)
Diana: Princess of the Amazons series
The Diana series is co-authored with Dean Hale and illustrated by Victoria Ying.
Diana: Princess of the Amazons (2020) ISBN 9781401291112
Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn series
The Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn picture books are illustrated by LeUyen Pham.
Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn (2021), ISBN 978-1-4197-5091-5
Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn (2022), ISBN 978-1-4197-5093-9
Party Hearty Kitty-Corn (2023), ISBN 978-1-4197-5095-3
Articles
What are we teaching boys when we discourage them from reading books about girls? for The Washington Post
Other
Spirit Animals Book 4: Fire and Ice (2014) ISBN 978-0545522465
Hale, Shannon BUBBLY BEAUTIFUL KITTY-CORN Abrams (Children's None) $19.99 3, 26 ISBN: 9781419768774
In the latest in Hale and Pham's popular series, a majestic unicorn nurtures big dreams.
Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn (2021) validated Kitty's desire to be a unicorn and Unicorn's longings to be a kitty; the book wrapped up with both of them declaring themselves kitty-corns. But Unicorn also sometimes wishes he were a mermaid (an "enchanting mermaid," at that). Kitty can make that dream a reality. After spending hours with her craft supplies (like the ones she made her horn with), she creates two mermaid tails. One is purple and itty-bitty, and the other is unicorn-sized and green, and "Unicorn's eyes get wobbly with tears." Kitty has made his dream come true but she's not done yet. They must go to the beach to don their tails and really live it up. With Kitty's pet fish and her pals Parakeet and Gecko in tow, they arrive but the beach doesn't measure up to Unicorn's hopes. And he finally comes clean: He can't swim. Not to worry! Resourceful Kitty has it under control! Unicorn's a bit disappointed: Surely real mermaids don't need floaties or goggles. Still, he feels enchanted, not because of his tail but because he has a friend like Kitty. Though the story conveys the same ideas of "live your dreams" and "be your inner you" as in previous installments, it's still pink and purple (and bubbly) fun. Pham uses white space effectively, while the friendship between the central characters shines through.
An encouraging tale of self-acceptance, friendship and unicorns. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Hale, Shannon: BUBBLY BEAUTIFUL KITTY-CORN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A788096767/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6c9f0122. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.