Alex Sanchez is a Mexican American author of award-winning novels for teens and adults. His first novel, Rainbow Boys (2001), was selected by the American Library Association (ALA), as a Best Book for Young Adults. Subsequent books have won additional awards, including the Lambda Literary Award. Although Sanchez's novels are widely accepted in thousands of school and public libraries in America, they have faced a handful of challenges and efforts to ban them. In Webster, New York, removal of Rainbow Boys from the 2006 summer reading list was met by a counter-protest from students, parents, librarians, and community members resulting in the book being placed on the 2007 summer reading list.
Joshua Eugene Harris is an American former Evangelical Christian pastor. Harris' 1997 book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, in which he laid out his ideas concerning a Biblically based Christian approach to dating and relationships, helped shape purity culture for many Christian millennials. Harris was lead pastor of Covenant Life Church, the founding church of Sovereign Grace Ministries, in Gaithersburg, Maryland from 2004 until 2015. In 2018, Harris disavowed I Kissed Dating Goodbye and discontinued its publication. The following year, Harris announced that he was separating from his wife, had "undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus" and had given up on his Christian faith.
Macmillan Publishers is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. Founded in London in 1843 by Scottish brothers Daniel and Alexander MacMillan, the firm would soon establish itself as a leading publisher in Britain. It published two of the best-known works of Victorian era children's literature, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1894).
Lev Grossman is an American novelist and journalist who wrote The Magicians Trilogy: The Magicians (2009), The Magician King (2011), and The Magician's Land (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology writer at Time magazine from 2002 to 2016. His recent work includes the children's book The Silver Arrow, and the screenplay for the film The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, based on his short story.
Gregg Eugene Harris was a figure in the Christian homeschooling movement from 1981 through the mid-1990s and later served as a teaching elder at Gresham Household of Faith, which was an experiment in local church reform. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, his work helped launch the Christian homeschooling movement in the United States, Canada, Australia and Mexico. Over 180,000 families attended his seminars. His book The Christian Home School was a Christian Booksellers Association best seller in March 1988. The list was published by the CBA and was on file in the offices of Noble Institute.
Aaron Karo is an American comedian and author, best known for his Ruminations email column and series of books, his young adult novel Lexapros and Cons, and his Comedy Central special Aaron Karo: The Rest Is History.
The Clique is a young adult novel series written by Canadian author Lisi Harrison and originally published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series was reprinted by Poppy books. The series revolves around five girls: Massie Block, Alicia Rivera, Dylan Marvil, Kristen Gregory, and Claire Lyons, who are known as The Pretty Committee. The Pretty Committee is a popular clique at the fictional, all-girls middle school, Octavian Country Day (OCD). Claire and her family move from Orlando, Florida to Westchester, New York, where they live in the Blocks' guesthouse. Claire is initially considered an outcast due to her financial and fashion status. As the series progresses, Claire slowly develops a friendship with Massie, realizing that she must earn her friendship, and eventually becomes a member of the group.
Christopher Chace Crawford is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012), and of The Deep in Amazon Prime Video original series The Boys (2019–present). He is also known for starring in the films The Covenant (2006), The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008), Twelve (2010), and What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012). In 2015, he portrayed Billy LeFever in ABC's short-lived drama series Blood & Oil.
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is the first installment in the six volume fantasy novel series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was written by Irish author Michael Scott and published in May 2007. The Alchemyst has been translated into 20 languages, and is available in 37 countries.
The Rebelution is a Christian ministry/organization directed at youth, describing itself as "a teenage rebellion against low expectations." It was founded in August 2005 by twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris, younger brothers of best-selling author and former pastor, Joshua Harris.
Carolyn Mackler is an American author. She has written ten novels for teens and young people, including Infinite in Between; Not If I Can Help It; The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, which won an honorable mention from the Michael L. Printz award; Vegan Virgin Valentine; Guyaholic; and Tangled. Her first novel for adults, The Wife App, received praise from authors such as Judy Blume and Gabrielle Zevin.
The Widow's Might is a 2009 American independent Christian film directed by John Robert Moore and starring Angela Coates, John Robert Moore, Cameron Heidrick, and Gator Moore. It is set in modern-day Texas and the Old West. It has been praised as "a groundbreaking film, even though it is a first feature film from a teenaged director." The film won the Audience Choice Award and the $101,000 Best of Festival award in the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Melissa Marr is an American author of young adult/urban fantasy novels.
Columbine is a non-fiction book written by Dave Cullen and published by Twelve on April 6, 2009. It is an examination of the Columbine High School massacre, on April 20, 1999, and the perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The book covers two major storylines: the killer's evolution leading up to the attack, and the survivors' struggles with the aftermath over the next decade. Chapters alternate between the two stories. Graphic depictions of parts of the attack are included, in addition to the actual names of friends and family.
The term New Atheism was coined by the American journalist Gary Wolf in 2006 to describe the positions of some atheist academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 21st century.
Jennifer Archer is an author of young adult fiction or teen fiction, women's fiction and romance novels. She was born in Cleburne, north central Texas.
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures is the fourth book released by author Malcolm Gladwell, on October 20, 2009. The book is a compilation of the journalist's articles published in The New Yorker.
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in 2012. The first book in the series, The Alchemyst, was released in 2007, and the sequels were released at the rate of one per year, concluding with The Enchantress in 2012. The cover artist for the series is Michael Wagner.
Farrah Abraham is an American reality television personality, singer, pornographic actress, and writer. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, she received public attention after being cast in the reality television series 16 and Pregnant in 2009, which documented the pregnancies and first months of motherhood for several young women. Later that year, she was cast in the spin-off series Teen Mom, and appeared in each of its four seasons until its conclusion in 2012. That August, she released her debut studio album and first memoir, both of which were titled My Teenage Dream Ended. The book made it onto The New York Times bestseller list.
Jazz Jennings is an American YouTube personality, spokesmodel, television personality, and LGBT rights activist. Jennings is one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender. Jennings received national attention in 2007 when an interview with Barbara Walters aired on 20/20, which led to other high-profile interviews and appearances. Christine Connelly, a member of the board of directors for the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth, stated, "She was the first young person who picked up the national spotlight, went on TV and was able to articulate her perspective and point of view with such innocence." Her parents noted that Jennings was clear on being female as soon as she could speak.
