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WORK TITLE: Heretics Anonymous
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://katiehenrywrites.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, B.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Playwright and novelist.
AWARDS:Perfect Score won the Berkeley Rep Teen Playwriting Contest and the Young Playwrights Inc. National Playwriting Contest; California Young Playwrights Award, for Re-Drowning Ophelia; Festival of New Works Award, Tisch School of the Arts, for The Gospel According to Jeremy.
WRITINGS
Also author of plays, including Perfect Score, Re-Drowning Ophelia, and The Gospel According to Jeremy.
SIDELIGHTS
Katie Henry is a writer and playwright. Henry’s teen years were spent in the liberal college town of Berkeley, California. She moved to New York City for college, where she earned a B.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Henry’s interests include feminist and liberation theology and medieval history. As a writer, she specializes in theater and writing for young audiences. Her plays have been performed by high schools and community organizations in over thirty states.
In Henry’s young-adult novel Heretics Anonymous, sixteen-year-old Michael is not having an easy time adjusting to his new high school. Michael’s career-obsessed father has just uprooted the family, something he had promised he would never do again to Michael and his younger sister. Michael’s new school, St. Clare’s, is an exclusive Catholic school. The atheist teen anticipates a painful last two years of school.
Michael has a bumpy start as he attempts to adjust to the religious traditions and rules of the school. Thankfully, he soon learns he is not the only one to struggle at St. Clare’s. Michael is invited to join Heretics Anonymous, a secret club for misfits. There he befriends a Wiccan, a Jewish kid, and a girl who has aspirations to become a Catholic priest. The club is primarily a space for the teens to complain about St. Clare’s strict rules and teachers, but once Michael joins, he has larger plans. Under the newcomer’s guidance, the club begins to shake things up at St. Clare’s. The group hacks the annual abstinence assembly, adding a video that contains scientific facts about sexual health, and encourages the student body to test the boundaries of the school’s dress code. They also shed light on the injustice of the dismissal of one of the school’s teachers, who was clearly let go because she married her longtime female partner.
As the group’s antics grow larger, their bond deepens. Michael and Lucy, the member who wants to become a priest, develop a growing attraction. Just as things seem to be going well for Michael—he has friends and a budding romance—he does something that inches too far past the line of a simple prank and threatens to ruin it all.
“None of Henry’s multidimensional, multi-ethnic characters fall into stereotypes, and her snappy dialogue sparkles throughout this skillfully crafted debut,” wrote a contributor to Publishers Weekly. Shoshana Flax in Horn Book described the book as “a frequently hilarious comedy with its share of complicated romance,” adding: “The story presents a thought-provoking look at faith.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, June 1, 2018, Ilene Cooper, Heretics Anonymous, p. 93.
BookPage, August, 2018, Jill Ratzan, review of Heretics Anonymous, p. 28.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, July-August, 2018, Karen Coats, review of Heretics Anonymous, p. 473.
Horn Book, July-August, 2018, Shoshana Flax, review of Heretics Anonymous, p. 110.
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2018, Heretics Anonymous.
Publishers Weekly, June 11, 2018, Heretics Anonymous, p. 67.
ONLINE
Katie Henry website, https://katiehenrywrites.com (November 9, 2018).*
Katie Henry is a writer living and working in New York City. She received her BFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is a published playwright, specializing in theater for young audiences. Her plays have been performed by high schools and community organizations in over thirty states. Heretics Anonymous is her first novel. You can find her online at www.katiehenrywrites.com.
Author Chat with Katie Henry (Heretics Anonymous), Plus Giveaway!
Tuesday, 14 August 2018 Beth Edwards, Assistant Blog Manager Giveaways News & Updates Featured Giveaways 723 Hits 14 Comments
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Today we're excited to chat with Katie Henry, author of Heretics Anonymous.
Read on for more about Katie and her book, an interview, plus a giveaway!
Meet Katie Henry!
Katie Henry is a writer living and working in New York City. She received her BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is a published playwright, specializing in theater for young audiences. Her plays have been performed by high schools and community organizations in over thirty states. Heretics Anonymous is her first novel. You can find her online at katiehenrywrites.com [katiehenrywrites.com].
Website * Twitter * Instagram
Meet Heretics Anonymous!
Put an atheist in a strict Catholic school? Expect comedy, chaos, and an Inquisition. The Breakfast Club meets Saved! in debut author Katie Henry’s hilarious novel about a band of misfits who set out to challenge their school, one nun at a time. Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Robyn Schneider.
When Michael walks through the doors of Catholic school, things can’t get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. When a girl challenges their teacher in class, Michael thinks he might have found one, and a fellow atheist at that. Only this girl, Lucy, isn’t just Catholic . . . she wants to be a priest.
Lucy introduces Michael to other St. Clare’s outcasts, and he officially joins Heretics Anonymous, where he can be an atheist, Lucy can be an outspoken feminist, Avi can be Jewish and gay, Max can wear whatever he wants, and Eden can practice paganism.
Michael encourages the Heretics to go from secret society to rebels intent on exposing the school’s hypocrisies one stunt at a time. But when Michael takes one mission too far—putting the other Heretics at risk—he must decide whether to fight for his own freedom or rely on faith, whatever that means, in God, his friends, or himself.
Amazon * B & N * Indiebound
Author Interview Questions
1. What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I was raised Catholic and had a long-standing interest in religion and theology--the weirder the better--but always with a kind of academic distance. In college, I stumbled across a group of women--mostly young, mostly Catholic--who were writing about their frustrations with a faith that often dismissed them. But they were also interpreting scripture and stories I thought I knew in a way that lifted up women, and people of color, and LGBT+ people. It was a revelation. And I thought, “I wish I’d read something like this earlier.” So I decided to write a young adult book where faith--or a lack of faith--was as nuanced, complicated, and personal as I could make it. I’d read a lot of books where religion was a villain, and I’d read a lot where religion was a savior. I wanted to write a book where it was neither.
2. Who is your favorite character in the book?
Far and away, my favorite character is Lucy, a Catholic feminist, aspiring priest, and the first friend Michael makes at his new school. While Lucy and I don’t see eye-to-eye on every theological point, we both believe that women deserve access to leadership in their religious communities, and that every faith is better off when girls are treated equally. She’s a character close to my heart, and I hope she resonates with anyone who equally loves and struggles with the place they come from.
3. Which came first, the title or the novel?
The title came first! Originally, HERETICS ANONYMOUS was a half-hour comedy pilot that I slowly (and I mean slowly) adapted into novel form. And just to set the record straight: it’s pronounced HAIR-uh-ticks Uh-NON-uh-muss.
6. What do you like most about the cover of the book?
How could it be anything but the toast? I love the toast. It makes me hungry for carbs every time I look at it, which is extremely often. But I would probably be hungry for carbs regardless.
7. What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2018?
I’m dying for Don Zolidis’ THE SEVEN TORMENTS OF AMY AND CRAIG to be out in the world in October. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy, and it was just as sweet, tender, and hilarious as I’d hoped. I laughed so hard I cried on the subway. Preorder the book and you too can make a public spectacle of yourself.
8. What was your favorite book in 2017?
I loved NOW IS EVERYTHING by Amy Giles. Amy and I met in a writing class years ago and it such a pleasure to read her beautiful, heartbreaking debut that made me more nervous about flying than I already am.
13. Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?
Whichever part of the process I’m not currently engaged in.
14. What would you say is your superpower?
I can identify the breed of any dog on the street. Seriously, any dog. When I was seven, I shocked a lady by asking if I could pet her Bouvier des Flandres puppy. It’s possible she was just shocked by my terrible French pronunciation.
Heretics Anonymous
By: Katie Henry
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: August 7th, 2018
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Three winners will each receive a copy of Heretics Anonymous (Katie Henry) ~ (US Only)
Hi! My name is Katie Henry, and I write books and plays for and about my favorite demographic of people: teenagers.
I spent my own teen years in Berkeley, California, an ultra-liberal college town where adolescent rebellion takes the form of eating refined sugars or voting Republican. I moved to New York City for college and decided to stay, even though the avocados here frequently disappoint me.
My interests include feminist/liberation theology, medieval history, and overthinking absolutely everything.
HERETICS ANONYMOUS
Jill Ratzan
BookPage. (Aug. 2018): p28.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 BookPage
http://bookpage.com/
Full Text:
HERETICS ANONYMOUS By Katie Henry Katherine Tegen $17.99, 336 pages ISBN 9780062698872 Audio, eBook available Ages 13 and up
"Heretics are usually true believers. The only thing more dangerous than someone who doesn't care about the rules is someone who does--and wants to break them anyway."
So begins 16-year-old Michael's introduction to a secret underground club at St. Clare's--his exclusive new Catholic school --known as Heretics Anonymous. Michael's career-driven father has recently uprooted the family yet again--thus breaking his promise to Michael and his younger sister, Sophia--and has insisted on sending Michael to St. Clare's for his junior year. As an avowed atheist, Michael has a bumpy start at the school as he tries to navigate Catholic traditions, but he fits in well with the other misfits in the club: a Jewish kid, a Wiccan and a girl named Lucy who wants to become a Catholic priest.
At first, Heretics Anonymous meetings serve as a place for the teens to complain about St. Clare's restrictive rules. But at Michael's urging, the club begins to take on an activist role. The Heretics secretly interrupt the annual abstinence assembly with a video that contains facts about sexual health, and later they encourage their fellow students to creatively interpret the school's dress code.
The Heretics' high jinks provide Michael with a distraction from his home life: His father is perpetually away on business, and when he is home, he and Michael are constantly at odds, and his mother's attempts to keep her family together grate on Michael. In the meantime, the Heretics attend their share of awkward teen parties, and Michael and Lucy begin to act on their simmering attraction to one another.
But soon the club starts to get out of hand. At what point do the Heretics' protests do more harm than good? And has Michael been drawing the wrong conclusions about his father all along?
Debut author Katie Henry writes with a deep respect for the religious beliefs her characters simultaneously adore and eschew. Lucy's devotion to a tradition that will never meet her expectations is particularly sensitively drawn. Pick up this funny yet thoughtful young adult novel if you're ready to question your own assumptions about family, friendship and faith.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ratzan, Jill. "HERETICS ANONYMOUS." BookPage, Aug. 2018, p. 28. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A547988084/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6a5fe6e9. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A547988084
Heretics Anonymous
Karen Coats
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 71.11 (July-August 2018): p473+.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Coats, Karen. "Heretics Anonymous." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July-Aug. 2018, p. 473+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A552713925/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0c46dd36. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A552713925
Heretics Anonymous
Shoshana Flax
The Horn Book Magazine. 94.4 (July-August 2018): p110+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
Heretics Anonymous
by Katie Henry
High School Tegen/HarperCollins 330 pp. g
8/18 978-0-06-269887-2 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-269889-6 $8.99
Atheist teen Michael's family's latest move has landed him at the Catholic, conservative St. Clare's Preparatory School (it's the area's best private school, so some non-Catholics attend). Michael assumes the school will be full of "mindless Catholic sheep" but finds himself welcomed into Heretics Anonymous, a secret support group for students whose beliefs don't match up with the school's doctrine. Members include gay, Jewish Avi; self-described pagan Eden; Max, who chafes at the school's dress code; and devoutly Catholic, feminist Lucy, who wants to be a priest. The group begins taking subversive action at Michael's encouragement, starting with an "annotated for accuracy" sex-ed video; eventually, Michael himself goes too far.
In addition to being a frequently hilarious comedy with its share of complicated romance (see: Lucy), the story presents a thought-provoking look at faith, questioning but ultimately respectful of Catholicism and other beliefs, Michael's atheism included: he grows to understand why religion is important to others, but remains true to himself.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Flax, Shoshana. "Heretics Anonymous." The Horn Book Magazine, July-Aug. 2018, p. 110+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A548321803/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6ad16480. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A548321803
Heretics Anonymous
Publishers Weekly. 265.24 (June 11, 2018): p67.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Heretics Anonymous
Katie Henry. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99
(336p) ISBN 978-0-06-269887-2
In this entertaining coming-of-age story, five free-thinking students launch a clandestine campaign against their school's rigid policies and practices, with unanticipated consequences. When his father's job necessitates yet another move to a new town, Michael, a devout atheist who anticipates being miserable at his Catholic high school, finds himself unexpectedly invited into a "study group" of self-proclaimed heretics. Lucy wants to be a priest, Eden practices "Celtic Reconstructionist Polytheism," Avi is Jewish and gay, and Max is Unitarian Universalist. Through creative, anonymous measures, they contest the sex education curriculum, the dress code, and the dismissal of a lesbian teacher for marrying her long-term partner. The school authorities and some students attempt to discover the subversives and restore discipline, while a developing romance between Michael and Lucy challenges both students to respect the other's beliefs. When Michael commits an act that threatens his newfound friendships, he undergoes a spiritual awakening of sorts, which the author pulls off without sentimentality. None of Henry's multidimensional, multi-ethnic characters fall into stereotypes, and her snappy dialogue sparkles throughout this skillfully crafted debut. Ages 13--up. Agent: Sarah LaPolla, Bradford Literary Agency. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Heretics Anonymous." Publishers Weekly, 11 June 2018, p. 67. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A542967389/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e1a64edd. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A542967389
Heretics Anonymous
Ilene Cooper
Booklist. 114.19-20 (June 1, 2018): p93.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* Heretics Anonymous. By Katie Henry. Aug. 2018. 336p. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, $17.99 (9780062698872). Gr. 9-12.
Michael is not happy about spending his junior year attending a Catholic high school, but his father's job entails moving around, and it is the best school in the area. Who, he wonders, is going to be friends with an atheist? But he finds a group, collectively known as Heretics Anonymous, who hang out in a hidden room of the school basement to discuss their dissatisfaction with St. Clare's. Avi is Jewish, and gay Max is eccentric; Eden practices paganism; and Lucy--well, Lucy, a rebellious Catholic, is just wonderful. In her debut, Henry takes on a lot: a strained father-son relationship, a first romance between Michael and Lucy that's more tentative than torrid, and a group dynamic that propels the Heretics to take action rather than just gripe. The balls stay in the air quite well, and while a few of the characters, like Max, are never quite developed (or, in the case of super-Catholic Teresa, stereotypical), adults and teens alike get their due. What is most impressive here, however, is Henry's multifaceted take on religion. Michael isn't searching; he knows how he feels. Yet his introduction to others who feel differently--in the case of Lucy, passionately differently--opens him up. Come for the arch first-person narrative and puppy love, stay for the examination into belief.--Ilene Cooper
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Cooper, Ilene. "Heretics Anonymous." Booklist, 1 June 2018, p. 93. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546287659/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a6de7136. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A546287659
Henry, Katie: HERETICS ANONYMOUS
Kirkus Reviews. (May 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Henry, Katie HERETICS ANONYMOUS Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (Young Adult Fiction) $17.99 8, 7 ISBN: 978-0-06-269887-2
Teen angst and religious reflection cross paths in this insightful tale of self-discovery.
This engrossing bildungsroman centers on the travails of white, first-person narrator Michael Ausman. Reeling from his family's frequent moves, and now forced to change schools less than two months into 11th grade, Michael is resentful at being at the mercy of his father's job and worrying about how he, an atheist, will fit in at St. Clare's, the best private--and Catholic--school in town. Luckily, Michael soon falls in with others bucking the St. Clare's norm: Lucy, a devout Colombian-American Catholic bent on reforming the church; Avi, a gay, semi-observant Jew; Eden, a Celtic Reconstructionist Polytheist with Irish heritage; and Max, a Korean-American Unitarian. Together this group of iconoclasts forms "Heretics Anonymous," a deliciously secret society united in the belief, "That all people, regardless of what they worship, who they love, and what they think / Have a right to exist, and a right to be heard." The hypocrisy-busting acts of rebellion the group engages in range from hilariously annotating the school's sex-ed DVD to circulating an alternative school paper challenging the dress code and exposing the firing of a popular teacher. But when Michael goes rogue and acts alone, his entire world is threatened.
With a page-ripping plot and realistic character development, Henry's funny, heartwarming tale of unlikely rebels soars: an auspicious debut. (Fiction. 13-adult)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Henry, Katie: HERETICS ANONYMOUS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A538293837/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=23dd54ca. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A538293837