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| photo: Margot Wood | |
Adam Silvera's debut YA novel, More Happy Than Not, received multiple starred reviews and is a New York Times bestseller. His second YA novel, History Is All You Left Me, was released by Soho Teen on January 17, 2017. Born and raised in the Bronx, N.Y., Silvera has worked as a children's bookseller, marketing assistant at a literary development company, and reviewer of children's and young adult novels. He now writes full-time in New York City.
On your nightstand now:
My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier, which is a compelling combo of delightful and creepy. I'm also ready to reread The Young Elites by Marie Lu and finally read Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon is my first favorite book ever. I was so devastated when I lost my plush Stellaluna doll that my mom put up missing posters around my school. This story does not have the happy ending six-year-old Adam wanted.
Your top five authors:
Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Becky Albertalli, David Arnold, Nicola Yoon and John Corey Whaley.
Book you've faked reading:
Pretty much all required reading in school. I hated the cover of The Giver by Lois Lowry in seventh grade and refused to read it. I read it when I became a bookseller and loved it. Don't judge a book by its cover, Seventh-Grade Adam!
Book you're an evangelist for:
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. I always tell everyone how happy and sane I would've felt if I had that book as a teen.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Recently it was Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch. It's a graphic novel with the tagline "Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl." It was unlike anything I've ever read before.
Book you hid from your parents:
Mass-market copies of Charmed and Supernatural stories when I should've been doing homework.
Book that changed your life:
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling absolutely turned me into a writer. I was writing fan-fiction at 11. And 15 years later I'm a published author about to release my second book. I'm indebted to Rowling for that spark.
Favorite line from a book:
"I want a person to kiss hello." I love this line from Julie Murphy's Dumplin' so much.
Five books you'll never part with:
Noggin by John Corey Whaley, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and it would be really nice if someone doesn't spoil it for me the moment I'm about to begin this time.