Jennifer Niven's Blog, page 447

Thank you everyone for alllllllllllll the birthday wishes! You...

Thank you everyone for alllllllllllll the birthday wishes! You are making me feel like a queen! I love you for being the brightest places!!!

‘Raccontami di un Giorno Perfetto‘

All the Bright Places is in the Italian Huffington Post! When I was in Italy I chatted with journalist Giuseppe Fantasia, who wrote this lovely piece.

Rochester Teen Book Festival

I’m headed to Rochester, NY, this weekend for their 10th annual Teen Book Festival. Please come see me (and Sarah Dessen, Gayle Forman, Ellen Hopkins, Matt de la Pena, Sarah J. Maas, Ally Condie, A.S. King, Jason Reynolds, and a whole bunch of other amazing authors)!

I’ll be doing three breakout sessions on my own (at 11:15am, 12:15pm, and 2:15pm) as well as a signing at 3:15pm. Here’s the detailed schedule.

All the Bright Places book trailer

Thank you, Dana F, for creating this lovely trailer for the book. Finch and Violet would be so proud.

The Italian version of #AlltheBrightPlaces ❤️️#mybrightplaces...

The Italian version of #AlltheBrightPlaces ❤️️#mybrightplaces #giornoperfetto #italy #violetmarkey #theodorefinch #violetandfinch #finchandviolet #deagostiniya @deagostiniya (at Italy)

The Pasadena teen book festival (now known as Pasadena Loves YA)...

The Pasadena teen book festival (now known as Pasadena Loves YA) is going to be AWESOME and EPIC. Please come see me! #Repost @pasadenalovesya
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May 23! Link in profile. #Repost @frootjoos

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Soon! Follow @pasadenalovesya and tag #plya2015. Check Facebook and Twitter for links to author interviews and spotlights! FREE event sponsored by @pasadenalibrary and co-hosted by #Bridgetobooksorg. Pop up bookshop by @vromansbookstore. #youngadult #yalit fans, meet keynote speaker Mary McCoy and 19 other authors. Free tote bag for first 150 guests! Formerly #ptbf #ptbf2014 Website is still pasadenateenbookfestival.com (at Pasadena, California)

I’m a hair model! This is me after getting my hair done...

I’m a hair model! This is me after getting my hair done yesterday by the one and only amazingly amazing Meredith Morris @mavenbeverlyhills

Books are: affirming, exciting, reassuring, insightful,...

Books are: affirming, exciting, reassuring, insightful, inspiring, brave, challenging, comforting, transporting, enlightening. Books are: magical. Books are: lovely. Books are: necessary. Books aren’t: dangerous. Post a pic with a book you love. One that saved you. One you recommend. For every picture posted, #kamigarcia and #margaretstohl will see that a book is donated to a school or library.

Jandy Nelson loves Finch

Printz Award winner Jandy Nelson shows All the Bright Places some love in this lovely interview with the Guardian. 

“I found the characterisation of Finch riveting and breathtaking.”

(If you haven’t read her brilliant I’ll Give You the Sun, do it now!)

What to Expect When You’re Expecting YA

Publishers Weekly just ran this wonderful article by Sue Corbett. “New and forthcoming books for teens tackle increasingly complex and sophisticated issues.”

(And there I am!)

What it says: 

… the two main characters in Jennifer Niven’s YA debut, All the Bright Places (Knopf, Jan.) meet atop the bell tower at school, each on the verge of taking a fatal leap. Allison Wortche, senior editor at Knopf, bought the book in a preempt, after finishing it at her desk in tears. ‘I hope this novel starts important conversations,’ Wortche says. ‘And we hope if readers– especially teens– do see themselves in these characters and struggles, that they recognize they’re not alone.’

The novel is already a commercial success: foreign rights have sold into more than 30 countries, and the Mazur/Kaplan Company optioned film rights, with Elle Fanning signed on to star. But as is often the case, the decision to write about teen suicide came from a deeply personal place. ‘Several years ago, a boy I knew and loved killed himself,’ Niven writes in an author’s note. ‘I was the one who discovered him.’

At the time, it was not something she wanted to talk about, even with family or close friends. She now realizes that not talking about suicide, and the factors that lead to it, is part of the way it becomes stigmatized. ‘Often, mental and emotional illnesses go undiagnosed because the person suffering symptoms is too ashamed to speak up,’ she writes. ‘If you think something is wrong, speak up. You are not alone. It is not your fault. Help is out there.’