About the Author

Nancy Werlin writes YA fiction that ranges from realistic fiction to suspense to fantasy, often breaking the boundaries between genres. Her books have gathered awards too numerous to mention, but including National Book award finalist, Edgar award winner and finalist, New York Times bestseller, L.A. Book Prize finalist, and IndieBound Top Ten. Nancy's first novel, Are You Alone on Purpose, was a Publishers Weekly Flying Start pick.

Of Nancy's suspense fiction, Sarah Weinman says, "Chances are, many of you haven't heard of this author. That would be a shame, because she's simply one of the best crime novelists going right now. Period." These titles are where Nancy habitually breaks genre-separation rules and include The Rules of Survival (a National Book Award finalist), The Killer's Cousin (Edgar award winner), Locked Inside (Edgar award nominee), Black Mirror (which the Washington Post called "an edge-of-your seat thriller"), and Double Helix (named to multiple best-of-year book lists).

Nancy's unusual fantasy fiction was inspired by the ballad Scarborough Fair and includes the loose trilogy Impossible (a New York Times bestseller), Extraordinary (featuring a rare thing in fantasy fiction: a Jewish heroine), and her personal beloved, Unthinkable.

For fun, Nancy also writes and draws a graphic memoir in comics, using her Tumblr to self-publish an episode three times a week.

Her favorite book in all the world is Jane Eyre.

A graduate of Yale, Nancy lives near Boston, Massachusetts with her husband.

Reviews

Gr 8 Up-When popular but resolutely unremarkable seventh-grader Phoebe Rothschild befriends the strange and secretive new girl, Mallory Tolliver, little does she know that over the next four years Mallory will become first her best friend, then her betrayer, and ultimately her rescuer in a battle of wills and spirits that pits Phoebe's life against the survival of the faerie world as a result of an agreement made generations ago by Phoebe's ancestor and the Faerie Queen-both gambling their futures to gratify their desires. The skillfully performed full-cast narration of the novel (Dial, 2010) by Nancy Werlin quickly draws listeners into an arresting story of friendship lost and found, love blooming and dying, and the desire that each of us has to be viewed as more than ordinary. Emily Bauer's voice in particular changes in timbre and pacing to reflect the growing maturity of the main character and her increasing sense of self. Thanks to a plot that keeps the suspense at a high level until the very end, fans of Werlin's signature blend of reality and fantasy will be satisfied with her latest offering.-Cindy Lombardo, Cleveland Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.