Stephanie Oakes

Last updated
Stephanie Oakes
Born1987 (age 3637)
OccupationNovelist, librarian
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
GenreYoung adult fiction
SubjectCults, dystopia, murder
Years active2015–present
Notable works The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly
Notable awardsWashington State Book Award, Golden Kite Honor

Stephanie Oakes (born 1987) [1] is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for William C. Morris Award finalist and Golden Kite Award Honor novel The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly.

Contents

Personal life

She was in a poetry program during college. Oakes is an avid reader and a lover of comics, with some favorites being Black Widow , Ms. Marvel , Lumberjanes , the Amulet series, and This One Summer . [2]

She's been a reading teacher and is now an elementary school librarian. [3]

Oakes lives in Spokane, Washington, with her wife and family. [4] She identifies as queer. [1]

Career

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is about a girl in a cult whose life gets turned upside down when their propeht gets arrested. It was published in 2015 by Dial. [5]

It was a finalist for the Morris Award in 2016, [6] and was also the 2015 Young Readers Porter Square Book of the Year. [7]

She was inspired to write the novel while staying in Montana during a time in which her mother studied for her PhD. She says the novel is a retelling of the fairytale The Handless Maiden. [6] It was the first novel she completed and was originally planned as a dystopian novel. [7]

The book served as the basis for the Facebook Watch drama series Sacred Lies, which premiered in 2018, starring Elena Kampouris, Kevin Carroll, Kiana Madeira, Toby Huss, Ryan Robbins, and Juliette Lewis. [8]

The Arsonist

The Arsonist is about a Californian boy and girl trying to solve the murder of an East German girl from the 1980s. [2]

It won the Washington State Book Award in 2017 and was an ALA/YALSA Best Fiction. [9]

The Meadows

The Meadows is set in a dystopian society focused on conformity and tells the story of a girl fighting against the system. [4] Oakes was inspired to write the novel when she learned that conversion therapy is still legal in Washington. [1]

Related Research Articles

The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by Booklist magazine; administered by the ALA's young-adult division, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA); and named for the Topeka, Kansas, school librarian Mike Printz, a long-time active member of YALSA. Up to four worthy runners-up may be designated Honor Books and three or four have been named every year.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Scott, Chey. "Spokane author Stephanie Oakes' spellbinding third novel, The Meadows, imagines a dystopian future in which queerness is outlawed". Inlander. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  2. 1 2 "Interview with Stephanie Oakes on The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly". Between the Covers. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  3. rachelhartman (2016-01-07). "Stephanie Oakes: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly". Rachel Hartman. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  4. 1 2 read, The Nerd Daily·Writers Corner··6 min (2024-01-04). "How Long Have We Got?". The Nerd Daily. Retrieved 2024-01-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Jensen, Karen; Comment, MLS Leave a (2015-06-18). "They Still Break Girls, Don't They: A Reflection on THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY for #FSYALit". Teen Librarian Toolbox. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  6. 1 2 NGILBERT (2016-12-01). "2016 Morris Award". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  7. 1 2 "Interview with Stephanie Oakes | Porter Square Books". www.portersquarebooks.com. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  8. Sacred Lies (Drama, Horror), Elena Kampouris, Kevin Carroll, Kiana Madeira, Blumhouse Television, 2018-07-27, retrieved 2024-01-08{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. "Northwest Passages: Stephanie Oakes". Spokesman.com. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2024-01-08.