Courtney Summers

Courtney Summers (born 1986 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada)^[2] is a Canadian writer of young adult fiction. Her most famous known works are Cracked Up to Be, This is Not a Test, All the Rage,^[3] and Sadie.

Career[edit]

Her first novel, Cracked Up to Be, was published in December 2008^[4] and was the 2009 Cybils Award Winner for YA Fiction.^[5] Her sophomore novel, Some Girls Are, was published in January 2010,^[6] and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,^[7] Publishers Weekly,^[8] School Library Journal^[9] and was a 2010 Goodreads Choice Awards nominee in the YA Fiction category.^[10] Both novels were repackaged as a 2-in-1 edition titled What Goes Around in September 2013.^[11]

Her third novel, Fall for Anything, was published in December 2010^[12] and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews^[13] and Booklist.^[14]

This is Not a Test was published June 2012^[15] and was set during the zombie apocalypse. Prior to its release, all of Summers' novels were contemporary and realistic. This is Not a Test received a starred review from Publishers Weekly^[16] and was optioned for television by Sony.^[17] Summers announced that a script was currently in development in April 2015.^[18] In January 2015, Summers released an e-novella sequel to This is Not a Test, Please Remain Calm.^[19]

Summers' fifth novel, All the Rage, was her hardcover debut and published in April 2015.^[20] It was chosen as the sixth official selection of Tumblr's Reblog Book Club^[21] and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,^[22] Publishers Weekly^[23] and School Library Journal.^[24] It was also named a Spring 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection.^[25]

On April 14, 2015, to mark the release of All the Rage, Summers launched the hashtag campaign #ToTheGirls,^[26] encouraging people to send messages of support and positivity to girls across social media. #ToTheGirls trended worldwide on Twitter.^[27] Notable press coverage included The Today Show^[28] and it was named one of the most important feminist hashtags of 2015 by Mic News.^[29]

Her novel Sadie tells the story of a teenager named Sadie Hunter whose little sister Mattie was murdered. Sadie seeks revenge against the man she believes killed Mattie. The book was released on September 4, 2018,^[30] and is told from two perspectives: some chapters offering Sadie's point of view and some chapters being styled as transcripts from a podcast called "The Girls" hosted by a man named West McCray. The release of the book was accompanied by the release of a mock true-crime podcast titled The Girls: Find Sadie which is available on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.^[31] Sadie became a New York Times bestseller^[32] on September 29, 2018, and has been awarded the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult literature from the Mystery Writers of America.^{[33] [34]} Sadie also won the 2019 Odyssey Award from the American Library Association^[35] and was a Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Book of the Year in 2019.^[36]

Summers has also contributed short stories to the anthologies Defy the Dark and Violent Ends.^[37]

Works[edit]

Books[edit]

• —— (2008). Cracked Up to Be. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312383695.
• —— (2010). Some Girls Are. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312573805.
• —— (2011). Fall for Anything. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312656737.
• —— (2012). This is Not a Test. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312656744.
• —— (2013). What Goes Around. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250038449.
• Please Remain Calm, St. Martin's Press (2015) (ISBN 9781466875906)
• All the Rage, St. Martin's Press (2015) (ISBN 9781250021915)
• Sadie, St. Martin's Press (2018) (ISBN 9781250105714)
• The Project, St. Martin's Press (2021) (ISBN 9781250105738)
• I'm the Girl, Wednesday Books (2022) (ISBN 9781250808363)

Short stories[edit]

• "Sleepstalk", Defy the Dark edited by Saundra Mitchell
• "The Likability Rule", Violent Ends edited by Shaun Hutchinson (2015)

Essays[edit]

• "Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World", Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World from Algonquin BFYR, January 2017

Awards and nominations[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Courtney Summers at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Courtney Summers at Library of Congress, with 5 library catalogue records