"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
I love to do school visits
I have already booked about a dozen school visits this fall, and would love to add your school to the list! School visits are a great way to get students interested in reading and writing. For the 2022-23 school year, I visited 39 schools and spoke to thousands of students (and dozens of teachers and librarians).
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 book all my speaking engagements through TheBookingBiz.com.
I also love to go to teen book cons, literacy conferences, and to programs at libraries and for librarians.
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 book all my speaking engagements through TheBookingBiz.com.
I also love to go to teen book cons, literacy conferences, and to programs at libraries and for librarians.
School visits in Nashua, New Hampshire
Celebrating my 29th and 30th books!
This summer I finished final edits on my May 2024 book, Stay Dead. It's about Milan, who is the only survivor of a plane crash meant to hide evidence of bigger crimes. The only way she can stay alive is to stay dead.
A few weeks later, I turned the first draft of my 2025 book, When We Were Missing, into my editor. That book, which will be my 30th, is about a girl who finds a camera card filled with photos of hundreds of teen girls.
Wanting to do something fun to celebrate, I dyed my hair purple with Overtone, which will eventually wash out. I'm also thinking of trying blue. And it certainly beats the last time I finished a project, when I "treated" myself by deep-cleaning the kitchen.
A few weeks later, I turned the first draft of my 2025 book, When We Were Missing, into my editor. That book, which will be my 30th, is about a girl who finds a camera card filled with photos of hundreds of teen girls.
Wanting to do something fun to celebrate, I dyed my hair purple with Overtone, which will eventually wash out. I'm also thinking of trying blue. And it certainly beats the last time I finished a project, when I "treated" myself by deep-cleaning the kitchen.
School visits in El Paso, Texas
School visits in Arkansas
School visits in Beaverton, Oregon
School visits in Orland Park, Illinois
Criminal Elements lauds Girl Forgotten
Six District Compact Reading & Writing Festival
Ohio school visits
Texas Library Association Conference
School visits in St. Louis
Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL) Conference
Library and school events in the greater Omaha area
Book tour events in Lake Oswego
Book tour in Chicago area!
TOMEcon and school visits in Georgia
School Library Journal raves about Girl Forgotten
Seventeen-year-old Piper Gray’s interest is piqued when she helps a boy corral his wayward dog while she is visiting Skyline Cemetery. Piper is new to the town of Firview and is adjusting to moving in with her dad, stepmom, and two young stepbrothers. The boy she helps turns out to be a senior at North High—just like Piper. She discovers his name is Jonas, and there is something mysterious from his past that has caused his limp. He seems a little standoffish until Piper is paired with him to create a podcast-themed senior passion project. Piper is fascinated with Layla Trello, a 17-year-old who disappeared from a Halloween party 17 years ago in their small Oregon town. Layla’s murdered body turned up two weeks later, but no one has ever been charged with the crime. As Jonas guides her in successful podcasting skills, he relaxes around Piper. Their friendship blossoms, and they peel back the layers of grief they have endured. The plot is an engaging mingling of twists and turns that will keep readers absorbed until the end. Not only will the fast pace keep readers invested but the characters are multidimensional and fascinating. VERDICT This podcast-themed fusion of mystery and suspense that will arouse readers’ curiosity to the nail-biting end.
—School Library Journal
—School Library Journal
Booklist loves Girl Forgotten
In Henry's latest engrossing mystery, Piper Gray is a true-crime enthusiast with a hunger for investigating unresolved mysteries. After learning of the unsolved case of Layla Trello from more than 17 years earlier, she starts a podcast and digs into the story. The podcast is the distraction she needs, especially after her mother's recent death, which led to her moving to where Layla's murder took place. Her new project leads to a sudden rise in popularity at school, which makes her suspicious of trusting anyone, and the suspense ratchets up when she starts receiving eerie death threats meant to stop her work. Readers will be kept guessing throughout, but they will stay grounded through Piper—especially her struggles and her passion for gory stories—as her podcast grows in popularity and people are reintroduced to the cold case. The pages fly by until a final reveal that will leave readers questioning everything they thought they knew about the story.
—Booklist
—Booklist
A week of school visits in the Houston area
YALSA chooses Two Truths and a Lie as a Quick Pick Top 10!
Two Truths and a Lie has not just been chosen by the youth librarians of YALSA as a Quick Pick (books that appeal even to reluctant readers) but as one of the top ten!
Publishers Weekly raves about Girl Forgotten
Henry (Two Truths and a Lie) questions the ethics of true crime as entertainment in this tightly twisted thriller.
Seventeen-year-old transfer student Piper Gray, a murder podcast enthusiast, attains notoriety at North High when she starts her own podcast about the unsolved murder of teenage Layla Trello, who was found dead in the nearby woods 17 years ago. Determined to crack the cold case, Piper enlists classmate Jonas Shortridge to help investigate. As the inquiry gains traction and suspects reemerge, Piper receives an anonymous demand—“Stop this podcast about Layla Trello. You don’t want to end up like her”—prompting Piper and Jonas to believe the murderer is listening. Henry’s socially aware prose, interspersed with podcast transcripts and newspaper clippings, deftly depicts Piper’s altruistic commitment to justice for Layla alongside her critique of the perfect-victim myth (“Her disappearance and death attracted the kind of attention you probably wouldn’t get if you were poor, disabled, older, homeless, or not white”). Sections read, at times, like a “how-to” guide for podcasting, but red herrings, dramatic cliff-hangers, and a growing body count keep the plot suspenseful. Major characters cue as white.
Seventeen-year-old transfer student Piper Gray, a murder podcast enthusiast, attains notoriety at North High when she starts her own podcast about the unsolved murder of teenage Layla Trello, who was found dead in the nearby woods 17 years ago. Determined to crack the cold case, Piper enlists classmate Jonas Shortridge to help investigate. As the inquiry gains traction and suspects reemerge, Piper receives an anonymous demand—“Stop this podcast about Layla Trello. You don’t want to end up like her”—prompting Piper and Jonas to believe the murderer is listening. Henry’s socially aware prose, interspersed with podcast transcripts and newspaper clippings, deftly depicts Piper’s altruistic commitment to justice for Layla alongside her critique of the perfect-victim myth (“Her disappearance and death attracted the kind of attention you probably wouldn’t get if you were poor, disabled, older, homeless, or not white”). Sections read, at times, like a “how-to” guide for podcasting, but red herrings, dramatic cliff-hangers, and a growing body count keep the plot suspenseful. Major characters cue as white.
Amazing review for Eyes of the Forest in the New Zealand Herald!
What a fun surprise to wake up and find this review from the New Zealand Herald in my Google Alerts. New Zealand is a magical place, and the only country I have visited that I would consider moving to.
"The pace moves at a gallop, the tone light even during the most menacing scenes. Bridget is herself a consciously-written trope - the feisty flame-haired heroine - and the author sets everything up neatly, with no unnecessary padding. Eyes of the Forest - the name of both this novel and Bob’s novel within the book - conveys the power of story and how much the world invests in it, and the way in which a writer who has had success unleashed upon him becomes vulnerable to the expectations of his readers.
"This was a wildly entertaining novel, aimed at a young adult audience of those about 13 years old and up, and actual adults who love a good yarn."
—New Zealand Herald
"The pace moves at a gallop, the tone light even during the most menacing scenes. Bridget is herself a consciously-written trope - the feisty flame-haired heroine - and the author sets everything up neatly, with no unnecessary padding. Eyes of the Forest - the name of both this novel and Bob’s novel within the book - conveys the power of story and how much the world invests in it, and the way in which a writer who has had success unleashed upon him becomes vulnerable to the expectations of his readers.
"This was a wildly entertaining novel, aimed at a young adult audience of those about 13 years old and up, and actual adults who love a good yarn."
—New Zealand Herald
Could you start a short story in less than five minutes?
I just did school visits in South Dakota. A student, Elle, took the writing workshop. Students were given five minutes and a list of words to incorporate and their choice of prompts. Here's what she wrote (TBH, I'm jealous!):
Angel was walking down the road, the sky a blur of darkness as the sunsets in the distance. He ignored the way the world whispered for him to turn around, to walk with steady feet into the inky black that consumed the world behind him. He won’t look. Just keep walking. Stay under the steet lamps. The voice turned honey sweet, begging to be believed as it desperately tried to coax him backwards. Just keep walking. One foot forward. Don’t listen. His eyes dart around as the voice gets louder, get angrier. He can feel the darkness get closer. He remembers when the darkness was first discovered. How the news wondered what it was, this dark so black you disappeared into it. He remembers how it consumed his family, how his parents had halted and listened to the voice and all its gentle coaxing.
Angel was walking down the road, the sky a blur of darkness as the sunsets in the distance. He ignored the way the world whispered for him to turn around, to walk with steady feet into the inky black that consumed the world behind him. He won’t look. Just keep walking. Stay under the steet lamps. The voice turned honey sweet, begging to be believed as it desperately tried to coax him backwards. Just keep walking. One foot forward. Don’t listen. His eyes dart around as the voice gets louder, get angrier. He can feel the darkness get closer. He remembers when the darkness was first discovered. How the news wondered what it was, this dark so black you disappeared into it. He remembers how it consumed his family, how his parents had halted and listened to the voice and all its gentle coaxing.
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
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).
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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