Jessica Brody
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Jessica Brody is an American author and writing educator. Her writing consists mainly of
young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
.


Early life

Brody graduated from
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
in 2001 with a double major in Economics and French and worked for
MGM Studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Metro ...
as a financial analyst until 2005, when she began to develop her career as a full-time author. She credits ''
Bridget Jones's Diary ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Fielding, which was itself a loose ...
'' with reigniting her childhood passion for writing: "I was so inspired and awed by the fact that a book could take me away from my life like that." Brody sold her first novel a year and a half after quitting MGM.


Books

While most of Brody's books are for teens, her first two published novels, ''The Fidelity Files'' and ''Love Under Cover'', were
women's fiction Women's fiction is an umbrella term for women-centered books that focus on women's life experience that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels or women's rights books. It is distinct from Women's writing in English, wo ...
for adults. The first novel she wrote after leaving MGM was never published; after three years of submitting the completed manuscript to different agents, Brody started a new novel during the shopping period. She was signed by an agent for her second novel, five years after starting her career as an author. The agent sold that novel in ten days. Brody published her first young adult novel, ''The Karma Club'', in April 2010. She is known for her ''Unremembered'' and '' Disney Descendants: School of Secrets'' series of young adult fiction novels. The genesis of the ''Unremembered'' trilogy started with a news article about a teenage girl who was the sole survivor of a plane crash, which inspired Brody to speculate reasons why she was the only survivor. Brody sold the publishing rights for her first middle-grade novel, ''Addie Montgomery's Shortcut to Growing Up'', to
Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...
in 2015. The novel was eventually retitled ''Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up'' when it was published in 2017. Brody and fellow author Joanne Rendell developed the ''System Divine'' series, the first book of which, ''Sky Without Stars'', was published in March 2019. The publishing rights for the series were sold to Simon & Schuster in a six-figure deal in 2017.


Jennifer Hunter

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The ''Unremembered'' trilogy

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Short works in the ''Unremembered'' universe

:* :* :* :* :* :*"Unstolen" in


Disney Descendants: ''School of Secrets'' series

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''System Divine'' trilogy (with Joanne Rendell)

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Standalone fiction

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Nonfiction

:*"End of the World" in :* :*


Film adaptations

Film rights to Brody's book ''Unremembered'' have been acquired by
Reliance Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February ...
and Kintop Pictures. ''The Fidelity Files'' and ''52 Reasons to Hate My Father'' have also been optioned for films. ''52 Reasons'' is also being developed by Reliance and Kintop; and a screenplay has been written by Karen McCullah.


Writing Instruction

Brody offers writing instruction and advice on a variety of platforms, including YouTube and Udemy. She founded Writing Mastery Academy, an online, subscription-based writing instruction platform offering video classes, webinars, and a community site.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, Jessica American writers of young adult literature American women novelists American women writers of young adult literature 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Living people Smith College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)