Alina Simone (born Alina Vilenkin) is an American musician and writer. She is best known for her original songwriting, her album of cover songs by Russian punk poet Yanka Dyagileva, and her collection of autobiographical essays You Must Go And Win. She also blogs for The New York Times.
Simone was born in Kharkiv, then part of the Soviet Union, now Ukraine. She came to the United States at a young age as the daughter of political refugees (her father, theoretical physicist Alexander Vilenkin was blacklisted for 'refusal to cooperate' after resisting recruitment into the KGB). She was raised in Massachusetts where she attended art school, focusing on photography. [1]
After graduating, she moved to Austin, Texas where she began busking in doorways, performing her own songs. Her debut ep, Prettier in the Dark, was released in 2005, followed by an LP, Placelessness in 2007. Simone relocated to Brooklyn, and in 2008 released Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware, a collection of songs by the late Russian singer-songwriter, Yanka Dyagileva. This was followed by the dual 2011 releases of another collection of Simone's own songs, Make Your Own Danger, and her first book, You Must Go and Win. [1] She is also the author of the novel Note to Self to be released in June 2013. In March 2016 she released the book Madonnaland , an essay piece about American singer Madonna and Simone's own analysis of music and pop culture. [2]
Simone's recordings reached a new level of prominence with Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware. Most response was positive. Spin magazine called it "a strange, hypnotic celebration of a defiant soul. (7/10)". [3]
You Must Go And Win, Simone's first book, was likewise well received, with Kirkus Reviews calling it "vibrant, taut and humorous" [4] and Publishers Weekly saying "Simone ably juggles the philosophical and the comical, her genuine enthusiasm for arcane subject matter as contagious as the fleas in her long ago apartment." [5]
Yana Stanislavovna "Yanka" Dyagileva was a Russian poet and singer-songwriter and one of the most popular figures of her time in Russia's underground punk scene. She both played solo and performed with others, including Yegor Letov and bands Grazhdanskaya Oborona and Velikiye Oktyabri. Dyagileva was greatly influenced by Letov and Alexander Bashlachev, who were her friends. Her songs explored themes of desperation and depression, punk-style nihilism, and folk-like lamentations. Her death in 1991 has been considered as a symbolic end to the Siberian punk scene.
Prozac Nation is a memoir by American writer Elizabeth Wurtzel published in 1994. The book describes the author's experiences with atypical depression, her own character failings and how she managed to live through particularly difficult periods while completing college and working as a writer. Prozac is a trade name for the antidepressant fluoxetine. Wurtzel originally titled the book I Hate Myself and I Want To Die but her editor convinced her otherwise. It ultimately carried the subtitle Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir.
Faith McNulty was an American non-fiction author, probably best known for her 1980 literary journalism genre book The Burning Bed. She is also known for her authorship of wildlife pieces and books, including children's books.
Dare Wright was a Canadian–American children's author, model, and photographer. She is best known for her 1957 children's book, The Lonely Doll.
I Want a Dog is a children's book written and illustrated by Dayal Kaur Khalsa, originally published by Tundra Books and Clarkson N. Potter in 1987. The cover painting of the original book, which was also featured in the film version, is based on Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. The book's main character was named after May Cutler, founder of its Canadian publisher, Tundra.
I'm Not Who You Think I Am is an American novel for young adults by Peg Kehret, published in 1999.
Dig Me Out is the third studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on April 8, 1997, by Kill Rock Stars. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1996 to January 1997 at John and Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington. Dig Me Out marked the debut of Janet Weiss, who would become the band's longest-serving drummer. The music on the record was influenced by traditional rock and roll bands, while the lyrics deal with issues of heartbreak and survival. The album cover is an homage to the Kinks' 1965 album The Kink Kontroversy.
Kira-Kira is a young adult novel by Cynthia Kadohata. It received the Newbery Medal for children's literature in 2005. The book's plot is about a Japanese-American family living in Georgia. The main character and narrator of the story is a girl named Katie Takeshima, the middle child in a Japanese-American family. "Kira-Kira" means glittering or shining.
Carol Elizabeth Fenner was an American children's writer.
Carolyn Coman is an American writer best known for children's books. Her novels What Jamie Saw (1995) and Many Stones (2000) were among the runners-up for major annual awards by the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Book Foundation.
Yxta Maya Murray is an American Latina novelist and professor at Loyola Marymount School of Law.
Moon Over Manifest is a 2010 children's novel written by American Clare Vanderpool. The book was awarded the 2011 Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature, the Spur Award for best Western juvenile fiction, and was named a Kansas Notable Book. The story follows a young and adventurous girl named Abilene who is sent to Manifest, Kansas by her father in the summer of 1936. The author's note at the end of the book states the fictional town of Manifest, Kansas, is based on the real town of Frontenac, Kansas.
Aline Sax is a Belgian author of children's and young adult literature. Ms. Sax has a master's degree and has received her Phd in History from the University of Antwerp. Besides being an author she also translates novels from English and German to Dutch.
Sonia Pilcer is an American author, playwright, and poet, best known for her semi-autobiographical novels Teen Angel and The Holocaust Kid. She is responsible for coining the term "2G" to refer to Second Generation Holocaust survivors in a 1990 essay of the same name for 7 Days magazine.
Huntley Fitzpatrick was an American author of young adult (YA) fiction.
Lucha Corpi is a Chicana poet and mystery writer. She was born on April 13, 1945, in Jaltipan, Veracruz, Mexico. In 1975, she earned a B.A. degree in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1979, she earned an M.A. in comparative literature from San Francisco State University. Corpi's most important contribution to Chicano literature, a series of four poems called "The Marina Poems", appeared in the anthology The Other Voice: Twentieth-Century Women's Poetry in Translation, which was published by W. W. Norton & Company, in 1976 (ISBN 9780393044218).
Me and My Cat? is a 1999 children's picture book by Satoshi Kitamura. It is about a boy, Nicholas, who switches bodies with his cat, Leonardo. Nicolas's story appeared in a PBS/PBS Kids show. That is, Between the Lions.
Beyond The Ice Limit is a techno-thriller novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The book is a sequel to their 2000 book The Ice Limit and was published on May 17, 2016 by Grand Central Publishing. It is the fourth book in Preston and Child's Gideon Crew series.
Madonnaland: And Other Detours in Fame and Fandom is a non-fiction book written by American essayist and musician Alina Simone. It is a biography of American singer Madonna, as well the author's own analysis of music and pop culture. Upon its release on March 3, 2016 by University of Texas Press, Madonnaland received positive reviews from critics, who praised her writing and bold subject choice. Rolling Stone magazine listed it as one of the 10 Best Music Books released in 2016.
The Fix it Friends is a children's series published by Imprint Books. They are written by American author Nicole Kear, and illustrated by Tracey Dockray. The first two books in the series, Have No Fear, and Sticks and Stones were released on May 16, 2017. The next two installments, The Show Must Go On, and Wish You Were Here are slated for release in early September 2017. The books, intended for middle-grade readers, address common issues many children face, and are humorous in nature. It is notable for being the first book of its kind, filling an important gap in children's literature.