About the Author

Marissa Meyer was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, home of Almond Roca and Stadium High School, which was made famous when Heath Ledger danced down the stadium steps in 10 Things I Hate About You. Marissa didn't actually go to Stadium High School, but she did attend Pacific Lutheran University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Creative Writing. She still lives in Tacoma, now with her husband. Cinder is her YA debut.

Reviews

"Singing mice and glass slippers are replaced with snarky androids and mechanical feet in this richly imagined and darkly subversive retelling of 'Cinderella.'" --BCCB "This is one buzzed novel that totally delivers." --Stacked Books Blog "I absolutely loved Cinder. Marissa took a well known story and created an amazingly fantastic new twist, making this it an all together new story." --Between the Covers Blog "Cinder is loads of fun--mostly due to seeing a familiar story play out in a new setting, but Cinder herself is also a tough, smart, mouthy, resourceful heroine, so spending almost 400 pages with her is completely enjoyable--and I'm totally, totally looking forward to the next one in the series." --Bookshelves of Doom "Terrific." --Los Angeles Times "Author Marissa Meyer rocks the fractured fairy tale genre with a sci-fi twist on Cinderella." --The Seattle Times "Debut author Meyer ingeniously incorporates key elements of the fairy tale into this first series entry." --Horn Book Magazine "What they [readers] do not know until they begin turning the pages of this fable-turned-dystopian-science-fiction novel, is that Meyer's embellishments create a spellbinding story of their own." --VOYA "First in the Lunar Chronicles series, this futuristic twist on Cinderella retains just enough of the original that readers will enjoy spotting the subtle similarities. But debut author Meyer's brilliance is in sending the story into an entirely new, utterly thrilling dimension." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "Fairy tales are becoming all the rage, with the TV shows Once Upon a Time and Grimm spinning them through a modern filter. The 26-year-old Meyer's debut novel Cinder, though, combines a classic folk tale with hints of The Terminator and Star Wars in the first book of The Lunar Chronicles young-adult series due out Jan. 3." --USAToday.com "Cinderella is a cyborg in this futuristic take on the fairy tale, the first book in Ms. Meyer's planned 'Lunar Chronicles' series." --Wall Street Journal, in a round-up called After Harry Potter: The Search for the Magic Formula "This series opener and debut offers a high coolness factor by rewriting Cinderella as a kickass mechanic in a plague-ridden future." --Kirkus Reviews "There's a lot of moving parts in this fresh spin on 'Cinderella, ' the first in a four-book series." --Booklist

Gr 9 Up-The Earth of the future is beset by a plague and under threat of invasion by the Lunar people, residents of the moon. Teenage cyborg, Linh Cinder, is despised by her stepmother and forced to work as a mechanic to provide an income for her guardian and stepsisters. Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing and her skills are sought by Prince Kai to fix his personal android and recover the important data the machine possesses. Her life is irrevocably altered when her younger stepsister contracts the deadly letumosis and Cinder is sent by her stepmother as a "volunteer" for plague research, a fate no other cyborg has survived. Yet survive she does, and the implications of her unique physiology will have far-reaching consequences for the commonwealth and, possibly, the planet. Marissa Meyer's debut novel (Feiwel & Friends, 2012), the first in a planned quartet, presents a retelling of Cinderella with all the recognizable elements woven into this original, futuristic story. Narrator Rebecca Soler captures the determination and independence that make Cinder a compelling character despite the predictability of her true identity. Though not without flaws, the story will keep listeners engaged and awaiting the subsequent titles-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.