Shannon Hale (née Bryner; born January 26, 1974) is an American author primarily of

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, including the

Newbery Honor The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

book '' Princess Academy'' and '' The Goose Girl''. Her first novel for adults, '' Austenland'', was adapted into a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

in 2013. She is a graduate of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

and the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

. She has also co-written with her husband, Dean.

Early life

Hale was born on January 26, 1974, in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

to Wallace and Bonnie Bryner. She is the middle child of five children; she has two older sisters, one younger sister, and one younger brother. She enjoyed writing, reading, and acting as a young girl; she often created plays that she would act out with friends. She also began to write

books at age 10, often featuring herself as the protagonist. Her elementary school teachers encouraged her creative endeavors, and, in the fourth grade, Hale announced that she wanted to be a writer as an adult. In junior high, she participated on the school literary magazine. She then attended West High School, where she cultivated passions for English and drama. She took a creative writing class and worked as an editor of fiction for her high school's literary magazine. She participated in both school and community theater productions, including ''The Secret Garden''. Hale also took part in drama competitions and traveled throughout

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

with an improvisational theater group whose productions highlighted a range of teen issues. She met her spouse, Dean Hale, freshman year at West High School; he was also involved in theater. Hale has said that her theater experience has improved her writing skills, particularly in character creation and world building. She attended the

, initially majoring in both English and Theater before deciding solely to pursue the former. She served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

for 18 months before graduating with a bachelor's degree in English from the

in 1998. She later earned a master's degree in Creative Writing from the

. While studying at the University of Montana, Hale wrote 100 short stories and submitted many for publication, but none were accepted.

Writing

Hale began writing ''The Goose Girl'' while in her graduate writing program, and worked on her drafts of it during her lunch break while working at her instructional design job. She originally planned to work in literary fiction, publishing short stories and teaching English, before writing young adult and children's books. ''The Goose Girl'' became her first published novel after being met with nine rejections; Hale received an offer in 2003 from

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

. She based the book on her favorite

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

of the same name. It was named an ALA Teens' Top Ten and became the first of many novels in Hale's Books of Bayern series. ''The Goose Girl'' also won the 2004 Josette Frank Award for

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

and was reprinted by Bloomsbury in 2017. Hundreds of thousands of copies of the novel have been printed in a total of fifteen languages. The other Books of Bayern include '' Enna Burning'', '' River Secrets'', and '' Forest Born''. Her novel '' Princess Academy'' was featured on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, as well as that of '' Book Sense'' and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. It also received a

. Hale said that receiving the award was an "unexpected gift" that has profoundly affected her career. After the positive response from readers and reviewers alike to ''Princess Academy'', Hale wrote its sequel, '' Princess Academy: Palace of Stone''. In 2015 she continued the story with a third installment, '' Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters''. Hale has remarked that the series is "a love letter to education." Her first adult novel, '' Austenland'', was also featured by ''Book Sense''. Hale and screenwriter Jerusha Hess then wrote the screenplay for a film adaptation of ''Austenland'', released in 2013 at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. It was then bought by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

for $4 million. ''Twilight'' author

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

produced the film and

Keri Russell Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She played the title role in the drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, and later portrayed El ...

starred as protagonist Jane Hayes. In 2012 Hale released a sequel novel, ''Midnight in Austenland''. Another adult novel, ''The Actor and the Housewife'', was published in 2009 and was named "the ''

City Weekly ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (usually shortened to ''City Weekly'') is a free alternative weekly tabloid-paged newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began as ''Private Eye''. ''City Weekly'' is published and dated for every Thursday by ...

'' readers' choice winner for best novel of the year." Hale has kept numerous rejection letters she has received from publishers, and has compiled them into one 60 foot long scroll. In 2017, Hale released a graphic

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

titled ''Real Friends'', chronicling her struggles in grade school. It was illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Its sequel, ''Best Friends'', appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for graphic books and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

in April 2020. In 2018, her ''Princess in Black'' series—which she wrote with her husband, Dean Hale—made ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for children's series. The two also co-wrote the graphic novel ''Rapunzel's Revenge'', as well as two young adult novels for the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

superheroes Squirrel Girl and Captain Marvel. Hale ventured further into

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

with her own YA superhero novel, ''Dangerous'', in 2014.

Other work

Before becoming a full-time author, Hale participated in stage and

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

, studied in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and worked as an instructional designer. She is an advocate for gender equality; she has noticed how her books are marketed only to girls, despite positive reception from both genders. She has written a few articles about this subject. Shannon and Dean Hale 2016

Personal life

Hale is married to Dean C. Hale, with whom she has co-authored the Eisner-nominee graphic novels ''Rapunzel's Revenge'' and ''Calamity Jack'', as well as ''The Princess in Black'' series and ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' series. She is a member of

(LDS Church). She stopped attending the LDS church in 2021, having disagreed with her community's apparent tolerance of

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

and intolerance of LGBTQ people, but she still considers herself a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

. In a 2014 interview, Hale said that she doesn't "consciously make storytelling choices based on the DSChurch." In writing her graphic novel memoirs of her childhood, Hale decided to include visual references to her religious upbringing, like her family attending church. Despite being asked to remove the references (due to worries that it might affect sales), Hale decided to retain them, stating that "to erase

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

felt like a lie." She is the mother of four children: Max, Magnolia, and twin girls Dinah and Wren. Hale has noted that her children give her new ideas for books "probably every day."

Awards and honors

'' The Princess in Black'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' named it one of the best books of 2014. In February 2016, Hale was a Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 34th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium. In 2017, ''Real Friends'' landed on ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'''s "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth" list. '' Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn'' was a ''New York Times'' and IndieBound bestseller.

Publications

''The Books of Bayern'' series

*'' The Goose Girl'' (2003), *'' Enna Burning'' (2004), *'' River Secrets'' (2006), *'' Forest Born'' (2009),

''Princess Academy'' series

*'' Princess Academy'' (2005), – adapted to a musical produced by Kensington Theatre in December 2016 *'' Princess Academy: Palace of Stone'' (2012), *'' Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters'' (2015),

''Austenland'' series

*'' Austenland'' (2007), – premiered as a

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

in January 2013 *''Midnight in Austenland'' (2012),

''Rapunzel's Revenge'' series

The ''Rapunzel's Revenge'' series is co-authored with Dean Hale and illustrated by

Nathan Hale Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was an American Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot, soldier and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an Military intelligence, intelligence ...

(no relation). *''Rapunzel's Revenge'' (2008), *''Calamity Jack'' (2010),

''Ever After High'' series

*''Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends'' (2013), *''Ever After High: The Unfairest of Them All'' (2014), *''Ever After High: A Wonderlandiful World'' (2014), *''Once Upon a Time: A Story Collection'' (2014), *''Monster High/Ever After High: The Legend of Shadow High'' (2017),

''Princess in Black'' series

The ''Princess in Black'' series is co-authored with Dean Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. *'' The Princess in Black'' (2014), *''The Perfect Princess Party'' (2015), *''The Hungry Bunny Horde'' (2016), *''Takes a Vacation'' (2016), *''The Mysterious Playdate'' (2017), *''The Science Fair Scare'' (2018), *''The Bathtime Battle'' (2020), *''The Giant Problem'' (2020), *
The Case of the Coronavirus
' (2020), digital booklet *''The Mermaid Princess'' (2021), *''The Prince in Pink'' (2023), *''The Kitty Catastrophe'' (2024),

''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' series

''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl'' series is co-authored with Dean Hale. *''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World'' (2017), *''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious'' (2018),

''Real Friends'' series

The ''Real Friends'' series graphic memoirs are illustrated by LeUyen Pham. *''Real Friends'' (2017), *''Best Friends'' (2019), *''Friends Forever'' (2021),

Standalone novels

*'' Book of a Thousand Days'' (2007), *''The Actor and the Housewife'' (2009), *''Dangerous'' (2014), *''Kind of a Big Deal'' (2020),

Short stories

*"Bouncing the Grinning Goat" from ''Guys Read: Other Worlds'' (2013)

''Diana: Princess of the Amazons'' series

The ''Diana'' series is co-authored with Dean Hale and illustrated by Victoria Ying. *''Diana: Princess of the Amazons'' (2020)

''Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn'' series

The ''Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn'' picture books are illustrated by LeUyen Pham. *'' Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn'' (2021), *''Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn'' (2022), *''Party Hearty Kitty-Corn'' (2023),

Articles

What are we teaching boys when we discourage them from reading books about girls?
for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

Other

* ''Spirit Animals Book 4: Fire and Ice'' (2014)

References

External links

*
Little Red Reading Hood
(fan site)

Interview by Chris Rettstatt

interview at Publishers Weekly * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Shannon 1974 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American children's writers American women children's writers American fantasy writers Latter Day Saints from Utah American Mormon missionaries in Paraguay American women novelists DC Comics people Living people Marvel Comics writers Newbery Honor winners People from South Jordan, Utah University of Montana alumni University of Utah alumni Novelists from Utah American women science fiction and fantasy writers Female Mormon missionaries West High School (Utah) alumni