Mette Ivie Harrison (born September 13, 1970) is an American novelist. She writes young adult fiction and in 2014 began publishing an adult mystery series. Her background as 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 ...
has influenced her topics of interest as a writer, especially in the ''A Linda Wallheim Mystery'' series which focuses on a Mormon woman within her religious community. Her novel, ''Mira, Mirror'' won the Utah
Letters About Literature award in 2006, and three other novels were finalists for the
AML Awards
The AML Awards are given annually by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) to the best work "by, for, and about Mormons." They are juried awards, chosen by a panel of judges. Citations for many of the awards can be found on the AML website. ...
in 2007, 2014 and 2015.
Early life
Mette Ivie was born on 13 September 1970 in
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...
. Her father was Evan Ivie (d. 2020), a computer scientist who worked for thirteen years at
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
and being involved in developing
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
programming language. She was the ninth of eleven children, eight of whom followed their father into careers involving computer programming.
When she was ten years old, Evan Ivie moved the family to
Provo, Utah
Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...
, where he began teaching computer programming at
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
, a position that he would hold for twenty years.
Due to a mix-up at her school, she was given the name "Eddie" in fourth grade. She decided to take advantage of that confusion to present as a boy until puberty made that more difficult.
As a teenager Mette Ivie studied
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, and she spent 1985 attending a German gymnasium. In 1988 she received
BYU's "Ezra Taft Benson Scholarship". She graduated from BYU two years later with bachelor's and master's degrees in German Literature. She received a full scholarship to attend
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
and in 1995 earned a PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures. She wrote her dissertation on the female
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...
of the 18th century.
She was married to Matt Harrison, and they had six children. In 2021 the couple are finalizing a divorce.
[ In 2017 she was diagnosed with ]high-functioning autism
High-functioning autism (HFA) was historically an autism classification to describe a person who exhibited no intellectual disability but otherwise showed autistic traits, such as difficulty in social interaction and communication. The term was ...
, which initially made her hyper-aware of her differences from neurotypical
The neurodiversity paradigm is a framework for understanding human brain function that considers the diversity within sensory processing, motor abilities, social comfort, cognition, and focus as neurobiological differences. This diversity fal ...
people. She wrote about her experience with high-functioning autism in Sunstone magazine
''Sunstone'' is a magazine published by the Sunstone Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, that discusses Mormonism through scholarship, art, short fiction, and poetry. The foundation began the publication in 1974. The m ...
, where she noted that participation in the LDS Church helped her to make social connections that she otherwise would not have pursued. She described how her lack of "normal facial expressions" leads other church members to underestimate the depth of her feelings, especially depression. Since Harrison does not intuitively understand human interactions, she attributes her proficiency in portraying human interactions in her writing to her need to analyze human behavior closely. She also has described her approach to gender, writing "I tend to call myself either “agender” or “autigender” because I don’t think I really understand what gender is."
Career
Harrison left her job as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University in 1997. In 1999, her first book, ''The Monster In Me'', was accepted for publication.
Works and awards
Her novel, ''Mira, Mirror
''Mira, Mirror'' is a 2004 young adult fantasy novel written by Mette Ivie Harrison. The story of the novel is told from the viewpoint of the magic mirror from the fairy tale "Snow White". "Mira" is a main character.
Plot
A young girl, Mira, ...
'' won the Utah Letters About Literature award in 2006. In 2007 Harrison's '' The Princess and the Hound'' was a finalist for the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) Young Adult Literature award. ''The Bishop's Wife'' was a finalist for the AML Novel Award in 2014, and ''His Right Hand'' was a finalist for the same award in 2015.
Harrison regularly wrote in the religion section of ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' on topics of 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 ...
(LDS Church) over the span of 2015–2017. Her articles describe common misconceptions of LDS beliefs, addressing people outside of the LDS Church and also focusing on her internal religious audience. Harrison's articles describe her concern about the culture of the LDS Church while also pointing out the positives of her religion.
In 2025, she published a mystery featuring a neurodivergent sleuth.
Harrison writes for ''Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show
''Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (2008) is a science fiction and fantasy anthology edited by Edmund R. Schubert and Orson Scott Card.
Originally published in paperback by Tor Books in August 2008, it contains eighteen stories ...
'', giving writing advice to authors.
''A Linda Wallheim Mystery'' series
Harrison uses her religious background to write mysteries on LDS cultural issues. The ''A Linda Wallheim Mystery'' series is about a Mormon bishop's wife who uncovers terrible truths within her community. In an interview with ''Publishers Weekly'', Harrison said, "I want to make a 'regular' Mormon woman the heroine of the story". Harrison feels that Mormon women are often overlooked or forgotten. This series gives others a look into LDS culture while delving into situations that LDS members neglect to address.
''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 ...
'' favorably reviewed ''The Bishop's Wife'' (2014), the first book in the series, stating that "this decidedly adult tale adds twists aplenty to an insider's look at a religion replete with its own mysteries". Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' said the novel was "apt to offend most Mormon men" and praised the way Harrison helped readers contemplate the "question of how dangerous fire-breathing extremists really are". ''The Bishop's Wife'' was an ABA IndieNext Selection for December 2015 and a national bestseller.
Bibliography
The Hound Saga
This series is sometimes called the ''Animal Magic Universe''.
* '' The Princess and the Hound'', May 2008, HarperTeen
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...
,
* ''The Princess and the Bear'', May 2009, HarperTeen,
* ''The Princess and the Snowbird'', May 2010, SHarperTeen,
* ''The Princess and the Horse'', March 2015, self,
* ''The Princess and the Wolf'', March 2015, self,
Linda Wallheim mysteries
# ''The Bishop's Wife'', December 2014, Soho Crime
Soho Press is a New York City-based publisher founded by Juris Jurjevics and Laura Hruska in 1986 and currently headed by Bronwen Hruska. It specializes in literary fiction and international crime series. Other works include published by it inclu ...
,
# ''His Right Hand'', December 2015, Soho Crime,
# ''For Time and All Eternities'', January 2017, Soho Crime,
# ''Not of This Fold'', December 2018, Soho Crime,
# ''The Prodigal Daughter'', May 2021, Soho Crime[
# ''The Millstone'', Soho Crime (manuscript completed 2021)][
Ada Latia mystery
* ''A Special Interest in Murder,'' September 2025, Severn House,
Standalone
* ''The Monster In Me'', May 2003, Holiday House,
* '']Mira, Mirror
''Mira, Mirror'' is a 2004 young adult fantasy novel written by Mette Ivie Harrison. The story of the novel is told from the viewpoint of the magic mirror from the fairy tale "Snow White". "Mira" is a main character.
Plot
A young girl, Mira, ...
'', September 2004, Viking Juvenile,
* ''Tris & Izzie'', October 2011, Egmont USA
The Egmont Group (officially Egmont International Holding A/S; known as Gutenberghus Group until 1992) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishi ...
,
* ''The Rose Throne'', May 2013, Egmont USA,
* ''The Book of Laman'', July 2017, By Common Consent Press,
Short fiction
* "A Mother's Curse", collected in ''The Usual Santas'', October 2017, Soho Crime,
Essays
* "A Teenless World", collected in "Ender's World", April 2013, BenBella Books,
Non-fiction
* ''Ironmom: Training and Racing with a Family of 7'', June 2013, Familius,
Notes
References
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External links
Mette Ivie Harrison papers, MSS 8039
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Mette Ivie
Living people
1970 births
People from Summit, New Jersey
Brigham Young University alumni
Princeton University alumni
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American short story writers
American mystery novelists
American young adult novelists
American women novelists
American women short story writers
American women mystery writers
21st-century American women writers
Autistic writers
American writers with disabilities
American women writers of young adult literature
American autistic people