Indies Introduce Interview

Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock is the author of The Smell of Other People’s Houses, a Winter/Spring Indies Introduce debut for young adults and a Spring Kids’ Indie Next List pick. Marya Johnston of BookBar called the novel “a sensory experience.”

Five- to 10-minute interviews of Winter/Spring 2016 Indies Introduce authors, conducted by booksellers at Winter Institute 11, are now on ABA’s YouTube channel.

M.G. Leonard is the author of Beetle Boy, a Winter/Spring Indies Introduce debut for middle-grade readers. Erin Barker of Hooray for Books! said Beetle Boy “feels like it was written by a scientifically-minded Roald Dahl.”

Heidi Heilig is the author of The Girl From Everywhere, a Winter/Spring Indies Introduce debut for young adults and Spring Kids’ Indie Next List pick. Alyssa Raymond of Boulder Book Store said the novel is “magical, diverse, and intricately plotted.”

Matthew Griffin is the author of the Winter/Spring Indies Introduce debut novel Hide, which William Carl of Wellesley Books called “one of the best books of the year.”

Rashod Ollison is the author of Soul Serenade: Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age Through Vinyl, a Winter/Spring 2016 Indies Introduce debut title. Jamie Fiocco of Flyleaf Books called Soul Serenade “a heartbreaking, gratifying memoir.”

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt, a Winter/Spring Indies Introduce debut title for young adults and a Winter Kids’ Indie Next List pick, “is a true beauty on all counts,” said Will Walton of Avid Bookshop. 

Gavriel Savit is the author of Anna and the Swallow Man, a Winter/Spring 2016 Indies Introduce debut title for young adults. Sara Grochowski of Brilliant Books called the novel “an affecting story that readers won’t soon forget.”

Sunil Yapa is the author of Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, a Winter/Spring 2016 Indies Introduce debut novel. “I closed the book with the feeling that if we can truly open our hearts to understanding and forgiveness, there is hope for all of us,” said Anmiryam Budner of Main Point Books.

Mark Thornton is the author of Kid Moses, a Summer/Fall 2015 Indies Introduce debut novel, which Elayna Trucker of Napa Bookmine called “a fascinating, moving, and damning look at child poverty and homelessness in modern Africa.”

Adam Shaughnessy is the author of The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable FIB, a Summer/Fall 2015 Indies Introduce pick for middle-grade readers, which Kathleen McGonagle of Buttonwood Books & Toys called “an entertaining and engaging mixture of adventure, sleuthing, and mythology.” 

Kate Scelsa is the author of Fans of the Impossible Life, a Summer/Fall 2015 Indies Introduce title for young adults, which features a trio of friends that Laura Donohoe of Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café called “three of the most interesting and authentic young adult voices I have ever read.”

Parnaz Foroutan is the author of The Girl From the Garden, a Summer/Fall 2015 Indies Introduce selection. “Foroutan writes of a family’s unraveling in a powerful story that will vividly live on in the reader’s memory and imagination. Brilliant!” said Rick Simonson of Elliott Bay Book Company.

Nicholas Gannon is the author of The Doldrums, a Summer/Fall 2015 Indies Introduce title for middle-grade readers. Katie Orphan from The Last Bookstore called The Doldrums “a charming novel, sure to please fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events and Joan Aiken.”

Judith Robbins Rose is the author of Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco, a Summer/Fall 2015 Indies Introduce pick, which tells the story of Jacinta, the American-born daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants.