Nina LaCour

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Nina LaCour is an American author, primarily known for writing young adult literature with queer, romantic story lines. [1] Her novel We Are Okay won the Printz Award in 2017. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

LaCour was born in 1983 [1] in and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. [3] Her family instilled in her an appreciation for the arts and education: "her grandmother taught china painting classes; her father was a teacher and then school principal; and her mother taught high school art." [3]

She attended Campolindo High School and graduated in 2000. [4] She received her bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University and a master of fine arts in creative writing from Mills College. [3] [5]

Career

LaCour's first novel, Hold Still , was the result of her master's thesis while at Mills College. [3] Also while there, LaCour began teaching English composition to undergraduate students. [3] Following graduation, she taught at Berkeley City College and Maybeck High School before taking a few years off to care for her daughter. [3]

At present, LaCour teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Hamline University. [6]

Personal life

LaCour currently lives in San Francisco with her wife and daughter. [3]

Selected works

Hold Still (2009)

Hold Still is a young adult novel published October 20, 2009 by Dutton Children's Books.

The book received the following accolades:

Everything Leads to You (2014)

Everything Leads to You is a young adult novel published May 15, 2014 Dutton Children's Books.

The book is a Junior Library Guild selection [10] and has received the following accolades:

We Are Okay (2017)

We Are Okay is a young adult novel published February 14, 2017, by Dutton Children's Books.

TIME added the book to its "100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time" list, [14] and Bustle named it one of the best books of the decade. [15] The Boston Globe, [16] Publishers Weekly , [17] and Seventeen [18] named it one of the best books of the year.

We Are Okay received various accolades, including the following:

Watch Over Me (2020)

Watch Over Me is a young adult novel published September 15, 2020, by Dutton Children's Books.

The New York Public Library, [22] Chicago Public Library, [23] Buzzfeed , [24] and Kirkus [25] named it one of the best young adult books of the year.

The book received various accolades, including the following:

Yerba Buena (2022)

Yerba Buena is LaCour's first book of adult fiction. The novel has "themes of drug and sexual abuse, death, abandonment, and purposelessness" [28] but is ultimately the story of "two star-crossed young women navigating trauma, family, and romance". [1] The New York Times reviewed the book and called it a "sensory feast". [29]

Publications

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Hold Still is a young adult novel by Nina LaCour, published October 20, 2009, by Dutton Children's Books.

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<i>Everything Leads to You</i> 2014 novel by Nina LaCour

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References

  1. 1 2 3 McQuiston, Casey (June 13, 2022). "Nina LaCour On 'Yerba Buena,' Writing Queer Love Stories, & YA Vs. Adult Fiction". Bustle . Retrieved December 24, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 1 2 Morales, Macey (February 12, 2018). "'We Are Okay' wins 2018 Printz Award". American Library Association. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "About Nina". Nina LaCour. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  4. ↑ McMahon, Regan (March 8, 2018). "Voice of youth: Author Nina LaCour honored for her YA fiction". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  5. ↑ Comerford, Lynda Brill (December 21, 2009). "Fall 2009 Flying Starts: Nina LaCour". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ "Creative Writing Programs - Faculty and Staff -". Hamline University. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ↑ "Hold Still | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "YALSA's 2010 Literary Award Winners". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ "hold still | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ "Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ↑ "Everything Leads to You". Goodreads. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. 1 2 "Everything Leads To You". YALSA Book Finder. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ "Everything Leads To You | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. December 20, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ↑ "The 100 Best YA Books of All Time". Time. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  15. ↑ Colyard, K.W. (December 18, 2019). "The Best Books Of The 2010s, According To 30 Of The Decade's Debut Authors". Bustle. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "Best children's and YA books of 2017". The Boston Globe. December 8, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ "Best Books 2017 Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ↑ Orenstein, Hannah (January 16, 2018). "28 of the Best YA Books of 2017". Seventeen. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ↑ Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2017. January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2022– via Booklist.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ↑ "We are okay | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. February 16, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ↑ "2018 Rainbow List". Rainbow Book List. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Best Books for Teens 2020". The New York Public Library. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Best Teen Fiction of 2020". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  24. ↑ Penn, Farrah. "The Best YA Books Of 2020". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Best of 2020". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  26. ↑ "2021 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ↑ "2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ↑ Hynek, Julia (June 11, 2022). "'Yerba Buena' Review: Understated, Bittersweet, Brilliant". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  29. ↑ Harlan, Jennifer (May 31, 2022). "Love and Trauma in the Wilds of California". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
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