Elana Kuczynski Arnold is an American children's and young adult author. Her 2017 novel ''What Girls Are Made Of'' was a finalist for the 2017

National Book Award for Young People's Literature The National Book Award for Young People's Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation (NBF) to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers".< ...

, and her 2018 novel ''Damsel'' was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honor title in 2019. In 2022, three of Arnold's books (''Damsel, Red Hood'', and ''What Girls Are Made Of'' ) were listed among 52 novels banned by the

Alpine School District Alpine School District is the primary school district in northern Utah County, Utah, United States The district covers Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Fort, Cedar Hills, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Highland, Lehi, Lindon, Orem, Pleasant Grove, ...

following the implementation of Utah law H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools."

Biography

Arnold obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

from

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

. In 1998, she

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in English and Creative Writing from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

. Arnold now teaches with

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...

's Master of Fine Arts program focusing on Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Southern California.

Awards and honors

Nine of Arnold's book are

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

selections: ''A Boy Called Bat'' (2017), ''Bat and the Waiting Game'' (2018), ''Damsel'' (2018), ''Bat at the End of Everything'' (2019), ''The House That Wasn't There'' (2021), ''Red Hood'' (2021), ''Starla Jean'' (2021), and ''Just Harriet'' (2022). In 2021, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' named ''Red Hood'' one of the top ten young adult novels of the year.

Publications

Young adult novels

*''Sacred'' (2012) *''Burning'' (2013) *''Splendor'' (2013) *''Infandous'' (2015) *''What Girls Are Made Of'' (2017) *''Damsel'' (2018) *''Red Hood'' (2020) *''The Blood Years'' (2022)

Middle grade books

*''The Question of Miracles'' (2015) *''Far From Fair '' (2016) *''The House That Wasn't There'' (2021) *''Just Harriet'' (2022)

A Boy Called Bat series

*''A Boy Called Bat'' (2017) *''Bat and the Waiting Game'' (2018) *''Bat and the End of Everything'' (2019)

Starla Jean series

*''Starla Jean'', illustrated by A. N. Kang (2021) *''Starla Jean Takes The Cake'' (2022) *''Starla Jean Cracks the Case'' (2023)

Picture books

*''What Riley Wore'' (2019) *''All by Himself?'' (2022) *''Pip and Zip'' (2022)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Elana American women children's writers American children's writers 21st-century American women writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of California, Davis alumni University of California, Irvine alumni Hamline University faculty