"Henry has become a leading light in YA mystery." - Booklist
"April Henry’s crime dramas are consistently smart and satisfying.” - Kirkus
"Sure to delight fans of mystery, suspense, and a little horror."- School Library Journal
"Legendary mystery author Henry is back at it again" - Barnes & Noble blog
"Another one to add to the collection of Henry's fast-paced thrillers." - YALSA
"April Henry’s crime dramas are consistently smart and satisfying.” - Kirkus
"Sure to delight fans of mystery, suspense, and a little horror."- School Library Journal
"Legendary mystery author Henry is back at it again" - Barnes & Noble blog
"Another one to add to the collection of Henry's fast-paced thrillers." - YALSA
Welcome to my little corner of the Internet. I'm a New York Times bestselling author who loves Brazilian jujitsu, salty snacks, and all things scary.
High praise, indeed!
“April Henry is a prolific author who, in my opinion, consistently writes engaging and authentically teen YA books that remind me of those 90s and 2000s paperback series, and this is the highest compliment I can give her as an author. Just as adults still love to read Harlequin romances, I believe that a lot is being lost in teen fiction and in our libraries by moving away from those quick, fun – and easy to carry because they are paperback – series that you can consistently count on for some great escapist reading that horrifies, delights, and engages. April Henry excels at this…A thing that I appreciate with April Henry is how authentically teen her protagonists feel and sound on a consistent basis. I have never walked away from an April Henry book thinking those characters were adults that they just labelled as 17 to market them as YA. And did I mention they are fun and engaging reads?!”
- SchoolLibrary Journal.com’s Teen Librarian Toolbox
- SchoolLibrary Journal.com’s Teen Librarian Toolbox
First school visits of the 2022-23 school year in Jackson, Missouri
Play with Fire wins Oregon Spirit Book Award
Playing with Fire has won the Oregon Spirt Book Award, given by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English (OCTE) for a book that encourages readers' imagination, discovery and understanding and that reflects the spirt and values of Oregonians.
Getting to know me
Reviews for Two Truths and a Lie
"A group of high school students are doomed on a trip for a theater competition. They drive straight into a blizzard and must find refuge in a hotel in the middle of nowhere. When they check-in, they meet a robotics team that is also stranded while traveling for their own competition. The hotel is creepy, cold, and full of winding hallways, making it difficult to navigate. It also holds dark secrets, including the murder of a businessman and his mistress years before. The murder weapon was never found, and the murder never solved. The teens play games, including Two Truths and a Lie, to pass the time. When one person writes their two truths and a lie as “I like to watch people die,” and then two classmates turn up dead, the evening becomes sinister. Told with nods to Agatha Christie and in eerie detail, this thriller is sure to delight fans of mystery, suspense, and a little horror. Who is the killer and why are they targeting the teens? VERDICT A grisly, fast-paced, suspenseful tale of a murder and mystery that is great for fans of noir thrillers who do not mind a little gore. Recommended for teen readers."
—School Library Journal
"On their way to a competition, an unexpected blizzard forces Nell and her theater group to take shelter in a creepy, run-down hotel. There they meet other groups sheltering as well, including a rival team heading for the same competition. The first night in the hotel, Nell and the two groups play a game, Two Truths and a Lie, to pass the time, but things get dark when one slip of paper admits to multiple killings. Things get even darker once it’s found that the hotel was the scene of an unsolved double murder. Everyone is a suspect in the ominous confession, and the next morning, one of Nell’s theater friends is found dead. Trapped without power or access to help, Nell and her friends must protect themselves and survive. Henry returns with another thriller that will keep readers on the edges of their seats with mystery and romance, plus various theater references that give the novel a unique feel. Multiple twists and turns will keep readers guessing until the very end. An engrossing read."
— Savannah Patterson, Booklist
"While traveling on the highway to a state theater competition, Nell and her friends Min, Raven, Adam, and Jermaine are caught in a dangerous blizzard. Their teacher, Mrs. McElroy, who is driving the minivan, decides to stop for the night at the run-down and shady-looking Travel Inn and Out. The motel is labyrinthine and spooky, with dingy corridors and walls adorned with moldering kitsch. Nell and the gang meet another group of kids who are also stranded by the storm, making fast friends. A game of Two Truths and a Lie starts out flirty and fun but devolves into something more sinister when one slip of paper reads “I like to watch people die,” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” The snow falls and the winds howl, and soon power and cell service are lost, cutting off the motel patrons from the outside world. As the first victim is discovered and the body count begins to grow, the terror becomes palpable. Everyone at the motel seems to have an insidious secret: Will Nell be able to uncover the killer before they strike again? An homage to Agatha Christie, Henry’s locked-room mystery is tautly plotted, with quick-moving nail-biting chapters, relatable characters, and a deftly wrought setting that paradoxically manages to feel both claustrophobic and sprawling. Nell is White; there is diversity among the secondary characters.An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills."—Kirkus
—School Library Journal
"On their way to a competition, an unexpected blizzard forces Nell and her theater group to take shelter in a creepy, run-down hotel. There they meet other groups sheltering as well, including a rival team heading for the same competition. The first night in the hotel, Nell and the two groups play a game, Two Truths and a Lie, to pass the time, but things get dark when one slip of paper admits to multiple killings. Things get even darker once it’s found that the hotel was the scene of an unsolved double murder. Everyone is a suspect in the ominous confession, and the next morning, one of Nell’s theater friends is found dead. Trapped without power or access to help, Nell and her friends must protect themselves and survive. Henry returns with another thriller that will keep readers on the edges of their seats with mystery and romance, plus various theater references that give the novel a unique feel. Multiple twists and turns will keep readers guessing until the very end. An engrossing read."
— Savannah Patterson, Booklist
"While traveling on the highway to a state theater competition, Nell and her friends Min, Raven, Adam, and Jermaine are caught in a dangerous blizzard. Their teacher, Mrs. McElroy, who is driving the minivan, decides to stop for the night at the run-down and shady-looking Travel Inn and Out. The motel is labyrinthine and spooky, with dingy corridors and walls adorned with moldering kitsch. Nell and the gang meet another group of kids who are also stranded by the storm, making fast friends. A game of Two Truths and a Lie starts out flirty and fun but devolves into something more sinister when one slip of paper reads “I like to watch people die,” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” The snow falls and the winds howl, and soon power and cell service are lost, cutting off the motel patrons from the outside world. As the first victim is discovered and the body count begins to grow, the terror becomes palpable. Everyone at the motel seems to have an insidious secret: Will Nell be able to uncover the killer before they strike again? An homage to Agatha Christie, Henry’s locked-room mystery is tautly plotted, with quick-moving nail-biting chapters, relatable characters, and a deftly wrought setting that paradoxically manages to feel both claustrophobic and sprawling. Nell is White; there is diversity among the secondary characters.An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills."—Kirkus
Last school visits/events of the 2021-2022 school year
Two Truths and a Lie chosen by Amazon as an Editor's pick, by Junior Library Guild as a Gold Standard selection
Amazon only chooses a handful of books in a given category to be an editor's pick. In a first for me, they've chosen Two Truths and a Lie as a best young adult pick.
And the Junior Library Guild has chosen Two Truths and a Lie as a Gold Standard Selection. Teen Vogue listed it as one of "15 Best New Thriller & Mystery Books for Summer 2022." |
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A sponsored gi! I'm like a cool athlete
I am excited to be working with Elite Sports and Born Tough to try out their products!
lite Sports sent me a red gi - so fun to have a different color and I really like the way they fit. They are good, inexpensive gis, and not too heavy, making them perfect for warmer months.
lite Sports sent me a red gi - so fun to have a different color and I really like the way they fit. They are good, inexpensive gis, and not too heavy, making them perfect for warmer months.
School visits in Texas
Run, Hide, Fight Back named winner of Golden Sower award in Nebraska
Run, Hide, Fight Back won the 2021-2022 Nebraska Golden Sower Award. Nebraska’s students in grades 7 through 9 voted and choose it as their favorite book. I am so honored!
School visits in Georgia
School visits in Junction City, Oregon
New books are on the way!
Two of my books were finalists for the Oregon Book Award
In what may be a first, I wrote TWO of the five finalists for the Oregon Book Award for young adult literature:
- J. C. Geiger of Eugene, The Great Big One (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
- Courtney Gould of Salem, The Dead and the Dark (Wednesday Books) [winner!]
- April Henry of Portland, Eyes of the Forest (Henry Holt and Company, Macmillan)
- April Henry of Portland, Playing with Fire (Henry Holt and Company, Macmillan)
- Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance (Scholastic Focus)
Amazing student writing
In one of my recent school visits, at Liberty Hill Middle School in Kileen, Texas, I gave the students a list of words and seven minutes to start a story using ALL of the words. This is what Adelyn G. came up with in (in seven minutes!) (underlined words are from the list:
Drew Desilver overlooked the city below his office. He sat in a chair. A squeaky chair. Too squeaky. With a swivel of the chair and a tangle of searching, he found a small piece of paper lodged within the mechanism of the swivel chair. On it was the number eight. To untrained eyes that is. He grabbed a magnifying glass and cleared the blur of a sentence written in the shape of an infinity sign. It read:
Halt, picture an alley. I stand in wait.
“Haltwood alley,” Drew whispered. He passed his contact and received a small note, his new case file. Drew was a professional man. A man that saw all. Within the case he would find only the face of the victim. The picture was angled at 98 degrees exactly. This meant this was a victim of murder. Desilver sighed. Murderers were always too messy, left too much, told too many. He examined the face and fainted. Life returned to him three weeks later.
The victim was his own mother.
Drew Desilver overlooked the city below his office. He sat in a chair. A squeaky chair. Too squeaky. With a swivel of the chair and a tangle of searching, he found a small piece of paper lodged within the mechanism of the swivel chair. On it was the number eight. To untrained eyes that is. He grabbed a magnifying glass and cleared the blur of a sentence written in the shape of an infinity sign. It read:
Halt, picture an alley. I stand in wait.
“Haltwood alley,” Drew whispered. He passed his contact and received a small note, his new case file. Drew was a professional man. A man that saw all. Within the case he would find only the face of the victim. The picture was angled at 98 degrees exactly. This meant this was a victim of murder. Desilver sighed. Murderers were always too messy, left too much, told too many. He examined the face and fainted. Life returned to him three weeks later.
The victim was his own mother.
Defeating zip ties
I have a million things to do, so of course I started playing around with zip ties. This is one way to defeat them. I had them super loose because I was at home alone and had a conference call in an hour. Tighter zip ties or a shorter piece of metal (like a broken-off barrette) would require great wrist dexterity.
Want to buy a signed book?
Want to buy a signed book with a personal dedication for yourself or someone else? Just contact my local bookstore: AnnieBlooms.com. They'll contact me and I'll come down to sign (in a socially-distanced choreographed way).
I love to do school visits
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School visits are a great way to get students interested in reading and writing.
I love to visit schools and share with students the joys of reading, writing, and research. I also talk about the vital importance of tenacity. To learn more, check out my school visit page. I am excited to announce that I am now booking all my speaking engagements through TheBookingBiz.com. And the good folks at my publisher have put together a teacher's guide for my books (which can be used with Common Core state standards). You can get it here. |
Taking my Brazilian jiujitsu on the road
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I love to do Brazilian jujitsu (think wrestling plus chokes plus joint locks) and try to roll at a local school whenever I do school visits. Every school has its own special way of doing things - and with luck I can pick up a trick or two to try at my regular schools in Portland.
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The things I do for research!
Best Note Ever from a Middle School Teacher
Just wanted to let you know for a 3rd year in a row you are making my life easy – and creating a bunch of new readers. I am still lucky enough to teach an advanced reading class along with my Intensive class and across the board your books are the motivators. Here is one of the book projects done by one of my 7th graders! I can’t keep enough copies of your books on my shelf. |
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