Elana K. Arnold

Elana Kuczynski Arnold is an American children's and young adult author. Her 2017 novel What Girls Are Made Of was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Young People's Literature,^[1][2] and her 2018 novel Damsel was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honor title in 2019.^[3][4]

Elana K. Arnold
Occupation	Author
Nationality	American
Website
elanakarnold.com

In 2022, three of Arnold's books (Damsel, Red Hood, and What Girls Are Made Of ) were listed among 52 novels banned by the Alpine School District following the implementation of Utah H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools."^[5]

Biography

Arnold obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature from University of California, Irvine.^[6] In 1998, she Master of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis.^[7][6]

Arnold now teaches with Hamline University's Master of Fine Arts program focusing on Writing for Children and Young Adults.^[8]

She lives in Southern California.^[8]

Awards and honors

Nine of Arnold's book are Junior Library Guild selections: A Boy Called Bat (2017),^[9] Bat and the Waiting Game (2018),^[10] Damsel (2018),^[11] Bat at the End of Everything (2019),^[12] The House That Wasn't There (2021),^[13] Red Hood (2021),^[14] Starla Jean (2021),^[15] and Just Harriet (2022).^[16]

In 2021, Publishers Weekly named Red Hood one of the top ten young adult novels of the year.^[14]

Awards for Arnold's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref
2015	Infaduous	Moonbeam Children's Book Award for Young Adult Fiction - General	Winner	[17]
2016		Amelia Bloomer Book List	Selection	[18]
		Westchester Fiction Award	Winner	[19]
2017	What Girls Are Made Of	California Book Award	Finalist	[8]
		National Book Award for Young People's Literature	Finalist	[8]
2018		Amelia Bloomer Book List	Selection	[20]
	Damsel	Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth	Selection	[21]
2019		Amelia Bloomer Book List	Top 10	[22][23]
		Michael L. Printz Award	Honor	[3][4]
2021	Red Hood	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	Selection	[24]
		Amelia Bloomer Book List	Top 10	[25]

Publications

Young adult novels

• Sacred (2012)
• Burning (2013)
• Splendor (2013)
• Infandous (2015)
• What Girls Are Made Of (2017)
• Damsel (2018)
• Red Hood (2020)
• The Blood Years (2022)

Middle grade books

• The Question of Miracles (2015)
• Far from Fair (2016)
• The House That Wasn't There (2021)
• Just Harriet (2022)

A Boy Called Bat series

• A Boy Called Bat (2017)
• Bat and the Waiting Game (2018)
• Bat and the End of Everything (2019)

Starla Jean series

• Starla Jean, illustrated by A. N. Kang (2021)
• Starla Jean Takes the Cake (2022)
• Starla Jean Cracks the Case (2023)

Picture books

• What Riley Wore (2019)
• All by Himself? (2022)
• Pip and Zip (2022)

Reception

In 2024 the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature passed a law^[26] mandating the removal of books deemed objectionable from all Utah public schools (including charter schools). On 2 August 2024 the Utah State School Board released its first list of banned books. Elana K. Arnold's young adult novel What Girls Are Made Of was on this list.^[27]

References

1. Charles, Ron (October 4, 2017). "Jesmyn Ward and David Grann among finalists for National Book Awards". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
2. Ramstad, Evan (November 11, 2017). "For family-owned Lerner Publishing, accolades and internal change mark a watershed year". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2018-08-13. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
3. "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2007-03-15. Archived from the original on 2022-08-07. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
4. Communications and Marketing Office (2019-01-28). "The Poet X Wins 2019 Printz Award". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
5. "Ban on 52 Books in Largest Utah School District is a Worrisome Escalation of Censorship". PEN America. 2022-08-01. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
6. "Elana K. Arnold (she/her)". The Author Village. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
7. "Creative Writing Grad Finalist for National Book Award". College of Letters and Science. University of California, Davis. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
8. "Elana K. Arnold". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
9. "A Boy Called Bat (Audiobook) by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
10. "Bat and the Waiting Game by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
11. "Damsel by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
12. "Bat and the End of Everything by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
13. "The House That Wasn't There by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
14. "Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
15. "Starla Jean by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
16. "Just Harriet by Elana K. Arnold". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
17. "2015 Winners". Moonbeam Children's Book Awards. Archived from the original on 2022-07-30. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
18. "Infandous | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2019-03-05. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
19. "Westchester Fiction Award". Westchester Fiction Award. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
20. "What Girls Are Made Of | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2019-02-28. Archived from the original on 2022-12-21. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
21. "Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2018". Booklist. 2019-01-01. Archived from the original on 2022-01-07. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
22. "Damsel | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2019-03-01. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
23. Jarnagin, Briana (2019-02-01). "2019 Amelia Bloomer List presents top ten feminist books for young readers". News and Press Center. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
24. "2021 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2021-01-04. Archived from the original on 2022-01-07. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
25. Chapman, Monica (2021-04-20). "2021 Rise Book Project presents Top Ten feminist books for young readers". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
26. Libbey Hanson (29 March 2024). "Book Banning Bill H.B. 29". The Daily Utah Chronicle. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
27. "These are the 13 books now banned statewide from Utah schools". KUER. 2024-08-02. Retrieved 2024-10-07.

External links

• Official site