Claire Legrand

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Claire Legrand
Author Claire Legrand signing stock of her work at Neshaminy Mall Barnes and Noble in Bensalem, PA, October 2018.jpg
Legrand in October 2018
Born Irving, Texas, U.S.
OccupationWriter, librarian
Education University of North Texas (BA, MSLS)
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, children's literature, young adult fiction
Notable worksThe Empirium Trilogy
Notable awards2017 Edgar Award finalist, 2018 Bram Stoker Award finalist, 2019 Lambda Literary Award finalist
Website
claire-legrand.com

Claire Legrand is an American writer of children's and young adult literature, including novels and short stories. She is best known for her New York Times bestselling Empirium trilogy, published by Sourcebooks Fire. [1]

Contents

Personal life

Legrand is from North Texas [2] but now resides in Princeton, New Jersey, [3] where she worked as a librarian. She is now a full time author. [4] Legrand graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Master of Science in Library Science. [5] Initially, she planned to study music before switching to major in English. [6] Legrand remains passionate about music and creates playlists for each of her published novels. [7]

Career

Legrand published her debut novel, The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, in August 2012 with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. After its release, the middle grade novel was recognized as nominee for two children's book award: the Michigan Mitten Award [8] and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award. [9]

Legrand's second book, The Year of Shadows, released a year later in August 2013.

In 2014, Legrand released Winterspell (September 2014), along with Summerfall (August 2014), a prequel novella, and Homecoming (December 2014), an epilogue available online in e-book form that is available for free on her author website. This set of stories was her first published work that fell into the category of young adult instead of middle grade. Legrand was also one of four contributors to The Cabinet of Curiosities: 36 Tales Brief & Sinister, an anthology book that released in May 2014.

Legrand has been included in two other anthologies to date, Guys Read: Terrifying Tales (September 2015) and Been There, Done That: Writing Stories from Real Life (November 2015).

Her fourth full length novel, Some Kind of Happiness, released in May 2016. This was a return to middle grade writing, and it was nominated for the 2017 Edgar Award, [10] as well as being included in Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year list [11] and the New York Library's Best Book for Children list. [12] In October 2016, she released Foxheart, her fifth novel and fourth middle grade book.

In November 2017, advanced copies of Legrand's upcoming young adult fantasy, Furyborn, were featured in a book subscription box, Fairyloot. [13] When the book released in May 2018, it debuted at #4 on the New York Times Best Seller List. [14] Furyborn was also featured as a Kids' Indie Next Pick for their Summer 2018 list. It serves as the inaugural book in the Emperium trilogy, the series for which Legrand is most recognized. Book two of the trilogy, Kingsbane, also debuted in the #4 spot on the NYT List a year later in May 2019, [15] and the third book, Lightbringer, released in October 2020.

Legrand's seventh novel, Sawkill Girls, was another young adult horror standalone and released in October 2018. Notably, it was nominated for both a Lambda Award [16] and the Bram Stoker Award. [17]

Her tenth novel, Thornlight, released in April 2021 and was chosen as a Spring 2021 Kids' Indie Next Pick. [18] This book is her latest middle grade novel to date.

Her eleventh novel, Extasia, released in February 2022 and was chosen as a March/April 2022 Kids' Indie Next Pick. [19] It is a return to young adult horror.

In May 2023, Legrand is set to release her twelfth novel and first adult book, A Crown of Ivy and Glass.

Bibliography

Middle Grade

Young Adult

Winterspell:

Empirium:

Standalones

Adult

The Middlemist Trilogy:

Others

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References

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  2. "Claire Legrand - New York Times Bestselling Author".
  3. "Claire Legrand".
  4. "Claire Legrand". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  5. "Claire Legrand in Denton". Dallas Eventful. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  6. "Claire Legrand Interview - Extasia" . Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  7. "Book Playlists". Claire Legrand. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  8. "2013 Mitten Award | Michigan Library Association". www.milibraries.org. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  9. "DCFMasterlist13-14". Google Docs. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  10. "MWA Announces the 2017 Edgar Nominations – Mystery Writers of America" . Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  11. "Best Books 2016 Publishers Weekly". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  12. "New York Public Library Reveals its List of Best Books for Kids and Teens Just in Time for The Holidays". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  13. "View all Past Boxes". FairyLoot. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  14. "Young Adult Hardcover Books - Best Sellers - Books - June 10, 2018 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  15. "Young Adult Hardcover Books - Best Sellers - Books - June 9, 2019 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  16. Team, Edit (2019-03-07). "31st Annual Lammy Finalists". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  17. "2018 Bram Stoker Awards Winners & Nominees – The Bram Stoker Awards" . Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  18. "Indie Next List | IndieBound.org". www.indiebound.org. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  19. "Indie Next List | IndieBound.org". www.indiebound.org. Retrieved 2022-12-01.