Jennifer Niven is a New York Times and international best selling American author who is best known for the 2015 young adult book All the Bright Places.

Jennifer Niven
OccupationAuthor, Screenwriter
NationalityAmerican
Years active2000–present
Notable worksAll the Bright Places
SpouseJustin Conway
Website
www.jenniferniven.com

Life and career

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Niven grew up in Richmond, Indiana.[1][2] As well as writing novels, Niven has also worked as a screenwriter, journalist and an associate producer at ABC Television.[3]

Her first two books were non-fiction narratives called The Ice Master (published in 2000) and Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic (published in 2003).[4][5] In 2010, she published a memoir of her years in high school called The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town.[6]

She began writing a series of historical novels in 2009. The first, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, was based on a short film of the same name that she had made. It won an Emmy Award and the Colin Higgins Award for Screenwriting.[3] The series also includes, Velva Jean Learns to Fly, Becoming Clementine and American Blonde.[7]

Niven's first young adult novel, All the Bright Places was released in 2015. The narrative follows two teenagers, Violet and Finch who are struggling with mental health issues.[8] It won a 2015 Goodreads choice award for Best Young Adult Fiction[9] and was longlisted for the 2015 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.[10] It has been adapted into a film by Netflix and stars Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Alexandra Shipp, and Luke Wilson.[11] Production on the film began in October 2018[12] and it was released on 28 February 2020.[13]

She released another bestselling young adult novel in 2016 called Holding Up the Universe,[14] and her third young adult novel, Breathless, was released in September, 2020.[15]

Bibliography

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Young Adult

  • All the Bright Places (2015) ISBN 0385755880
  • Holding Up the Universe (2016) ISBN 0385755929
  • Breathless (2020)
  • Take Me With You When You Go with David Levithan (2021)

Velva Jean Series

Non-fiction

References

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  1. ^ "Jennifer Niven: Life is too short to be closed off to possibility". The Guardian. January 26, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "RHS grad returns to 'bright place' to sign new book". Pal Item. April 26, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Jennifer Niven". www.panmacmillan.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  4. ^ Niven, Jennifer (2001). "The ice master : the doomed 1913 voyage of the Karluk". National Library of Australia. London : Pan. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. ^ Niven, Jennifer (2004). "Ada Blackjack : a true story of survival in the Arctic". National Library of Australia. New York : Hyperion. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  7. ^ "Velva Jean Series". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven – review". The Guardian. January 23, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. ^ "'Go Set a Watchman' among Goodreads' best books of 2015". CNN. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  10. ^ Drabble, Emily (July 10, 2015). "The Guardian children's fiction award 2015 longlist". The Guardian. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  11. ^ Shiner, Fionn (October 4, 2018). "All the Bright Places casts Keegan-Michael Key, Luke Wilson and Alexandra Shipp". mirror. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "Netflix Film "All The Bright Places" Begins Production". New On Netflix: NEWS. October 4, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  13. ^ "All the Bright Places review – teen charm can't lift maudlin Netflix drama". the Guardian. February 28, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  14. ^ Wilson, Teri (October 14, 2016). "'The Fault in Our Stars' Fans Are Going to Be Obsessed with This New Book". Teen Vogue. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  15. ^ "Breathless by Jennifer Niven: 9781524701963 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved December 4, 2020.