I was recently looking at my bookshelf, like I normally do, and I happened to catch my eye on Passenger and I had the inspiration to learn more about one of my favorite authors, Alexandra Bracken. While I learn more about her, you can learn as well! Let’s go and get our learning caps on our heads and get started!
A Little About Alexandra Bracken:
I was born in Phoenix, Arizona and spent all of my life there up until college–I miss it all of the time, but primarily when I’m forced to deal with ice/snow/mass transit/or some combination of the three. I’m a middle child, which supposedly means I’m full of angsty feelings of neglect, but, in reality, it just means I’m always sandwiched between my older sister and younger brother in Christmas pictures. On a whole, I had a pretty typical childhood, with only one big exception: my dad was a big time Star Wars collector, which means I went to more antique shows, toy stores, and Star Wars conventions then you could ever imagine! No, really, I’m up to six conventions. I will now pause to let that soak in…
I recently graduated with a degree in History and English from The College of William & Mary in Virginia. (Four years in Colonial Williamsburg is enough to give anyone a sense of humor about life, trust me.) I began writing Brightly Woven there during my sophomore year as a birthday present to my dearest, darlingest friend Carlin… and finished six months AFTER that date. The number one question I get asked is how I wrote a novel while I was still in school. There are two answers to this: sacrificing a social life and a depressingly effective will to see even the most futile projects through. I signed with my agent on my 21st birthday, and sold it later that year. I spent a good portion of my senior year buried under edits, and the rest of that year trying to figure out what else I was going to do with my life.
After graduating, I left my colonial bonnets behind and moved to New York City, where I attended the Columbia Publishing Course and worked in publishing for five years. I now write full time.
Her Books:
- Brightly Woven – Released 2010
- The Darkest Minds – Released 2012
- Never Fade – Released 2013
- In The Afterlight – Released 2014
- Episode IV A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farmboy – Released 2015
- Through the Dark – Released 2015
- Passenger – Released 2016
- Wayfarer – Release 2017
About Her Book Series:
The Darkest Minds
When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.
It is rumored that there will be a movie franchise for The Darkest Minds. As of 2011, the rights of the movie were bought by 20th Century FOX. Chad Hodge has been hired to write the screenplay of the film and according to Alexandra Bracken’s website, the draft is written. No other information is available as of now.
Passenger
Passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home… forever.
Opinions on Alexandra Bracken:
I love all of Alexandra’s work that I have read so far. I love The Darkest Minds series a lot and I really hope that it gets put into a movie, and they get someone that will do the book justice. The way that she is able to get you to love characters (my favorite has to be Liam Stewart from The Darkest Minds trilogy) and feel all the pain is remarkable. Her writing style is impeccable and is not to easy but not to hard to read. I would love to one day meet her.
Do you like Alexandra Bracken? What is your favorite book of hers? Does this want to make you read one of her books? Let me know your thought in the comments! I have done a few other Author Talks and I hope you go and check them out if you are interested!
Happy Reading,
❤ Ann
Ann's Reading Corner 