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Ally Condie

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Ally Condie
Ally Condie
Condie at the 2018 Texas Book Festival
Born (1978-11-02) November 2, 1978 (age 45)
Cedar City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation
  • Previous high school English teacher
  • Author
EducationBrigham Young University (BA)
Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA)
GenreDystopian fiction, children's literature, young adult fiction
Notable worksMatched trilogy
Children3 sons and a daughter
Website
allycondie.com

Allyson Braithwaite Condie (born November 2, 1978) is an author of young adult and middle grade fiction.[1] Her novel Matched was a #1 New York Times and international bestseller, and spent over a year on the New York Times Bestseller List.[2] The sequels (Crossed and Reached) are also New York Times bestsellers.[3] Matched was chosen as one of YALSA's 2011 Teens' Top Ten[4] and named as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2010.[5] All three books are available in 30+ languages.

Condie is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Atlantia (a standalone novel published in 2014) and Summerlost (a middle grade novel published in 2016). Summerlost was a finalist for the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.[6]

She is the founder and director of the WriteOut Foundation, a non-profit 501 (3) (c) foundation that runs writing camps for rural teens. She is also a member of the Yallwest Board,[7] which is a non-profit California-based organization aimed at making books accessible to local children.[8] Condie is also on the board of Go Jane Give, a non-profit Utah-based organization that organizes donations to refugees.[9]

Personal life

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Condie was born in Cedar City, Utah.[1] At the age of four, she told a series of original stories about a unicorn to her babysitter, who wrote them down for Condie.[10][11] Once she could write, Condie kept a regular journal, as well as a poetry journal.[11] Condie did not have much time for creative writing in high school, college, or her years as a high school English teacher.[11][12] In high school, Condie ran cross country and track, and has maintained a love for distance running even today.[11] Condie partially credits her interest in YA writing to her positive experience working with high schoolers, despite not writing much during her own time in high school.[11] She wanted to become the kind of author she would have felt comfortable recommending her students read.[13] Writing for adolescents came naturally to Condie because of her experience as a high school teacher, cross country and track coach,[12] as a sorority mom, and especially since she herself enjoys reading YA literature.[13]

She attended Brigham Young University and has an undergraduate degree in English Teaching. She taught high school English in Utah and in upstate New York. With the arrival of their first child, Condie quit teaching to raise a family. During this time away from school and work, she picked up writing again.[14] Condie began publishing YA literature with Deseret Book Company, a small, Utah-based publisher.[14][15] She published her first book in 2006, Yearbook, which was subsequently followed by the remaining two books in the Yearbook trilogy: First Day (2007) and Reunion (2008). The trilogy was followed by two stand-alone novels: Freshman for President (2008) and Being Sixteen (2010).[14]

In 2017, she lived with her husband and four children in Pleasant Grove, Utah.[16] The couple had three sons, the oldest of which had been diagnosed with autism in 2011.[17] In 2012 the family had adopted a girl from China.[18] Also in 2017, Condie graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts with a Master's in Fine Arts Degree.[19] Condie went through a divorce in 2019.[20] She returned to her maiden name, Braithwaite, and struggled at first emotionally with the fact that her novels will continue to be published under the name of her Ex-Husband.[21] She married her second husband, David, in August 2023.[22] Condie is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[16][23] The Utah landscape and Christian themes from her upbringing continue to influence her writing.[13] While trying to come to terms with her divorce, Condie wrote her first adult novel, The Unwedding.[20]

Matched trilogy

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Main article: Matched trilogy

The YA novel Matched was published by Dutton Penguin in November 2010 and reached number three on the Children's Chapter Books bestseller list in January.[24][25][26] Condie took the manuscript for Matched to Penguin Random House, after being advised so from her director at Deseret Book, where it reached an international audience.[15] The second book, Crossed, was published in November 2011, and Reached, published November 2012, completed the trilogy. The trilogy falls into the category of dystopian YA, which has increased in popularity for the modern YA audience.[14][27][28]

Summerlost

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Condie's standalone novel, Summerlost, marked a transition for the novelist from YA to middle grade writing. Speaking on "Summerlost," (Dutton Children's Books, 2016) Condie mentions that the characters and the location of her novel were inspired by her own childhood in Cedar City, Utah.[10] The fictional "Iron Creek" is inspired by "Coal Creek" in Cedar City.[10]

Works

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Yearbook trilogy

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  • Yearbook (Deseret Book, 2006)
  • First Day (Deseret, 2007)
  • Reunion (Deseret, 2008)

Matched trilogy

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The Darkdeep trilogy

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This trilogy is written with Brendan Reichs

Standalone fiction

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  • Freshman for President (Deseret/Shadow Mountain, 2008), OCLC 797225716
  • Being Sixteen (Deseret, 2010), OCLC 438052066
  • Atlantia (Dutton, 2014)
  • Summerlost (Dutton, 2016)
  • The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe (Dutton, 2019)
  • The Only Girl in Town (Dutton, 2023)[35]
  • The Unwedding (Grand Central, 2024)

Anthologies

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  • The Moms' Club Diaries: notes from a world of playdates, pacifiers, and poignant moments, compiled by Allyson Braithwaite Condie and Lindsay Hepworth (Provo, UT: Spring Creek, 2008), OCLC 190860066

Future works

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At least one new novel from Ally Condie is planned, an untitled YA novel.[36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ally Condie – Summary Bibliography". ISFDB. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  2. ^ "Children's Chapter Books - Best Sellers - Books - Feb. 6, 2011 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  3. ^ Morris, William (2013). "Review of Matched. Crossed. Reached". BYU Studies Quarterly. 52 (4): 181–184. ISSN 2167-8472. JSTOR 43039952.
  4. ^ "Search results - YALSA Book Finder". booklists.yalsa.net. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  5. ^ "Best Books 2010 | Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  6. ^ "MWA Announces the 2017 Edgar Nominations | Mystery Writers of America". mysterywriters.org. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  7. ^ YALLWEST Interview with Ally Condie, 23 May 2016, retrieved 2021-09-21
  8. ^ "YALLWEST". YALLWEST. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  9. ^ "Ally Condie, Emma Donaghue, and Others Participate in 'Read-In' for Refugees". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  10. ^ a b c "Q & A with Ally Condie". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  11. ^ a b c d e Ally Condie Interview, 10 December 2011, retrieved 2021-09-21
  12. ^ a b "Matched Fandom.Net Interview with Ally Condie!". The Fandom. 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  13. ^ a b c "Ally Condie — Mormon Artist". mormonartist.net. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  14. ^ a b c d Kim van Dijk (August 2012) “Trouble in Dystopia: Translating Matched, Crossed, and Reached by Ally Condie.” MA Thesis, Utrecht University Repository.
  15. ^ a b Jones, Valerie (2020-11-09). "10 years later, Utah author Ally Condie talks 'Matched' and why dystopian fiction is still popular". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  16. ^ a b Famous Mormons entry on Condie
  17. ^ "Ally Condie's Blog".
  18. ^ "'Reached' exciting end to Ally Condie's Matched trilogy". 10 November 2012.
  19. ^ "Ally Condie". Penguin Classroom Portal. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  20. ^ a b "A Utah author is reclaiming her name and creativity with her new novel". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  21. ^ "Instagram".
  22. ^ "Instagram".
  23. ^ article that positions Condie in a broad list of Latter-day Saints young adult writers
  24. ^ Best Sellers: Children's Chapter Books. The New York Times. January 16, 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  25. ^ McGrath, Charles (February 19, 2011). "The Way We Live Now: Teenage Wastelands". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-21. Alternative online title, "Young Readers in Dystopia".
  26. ^ Rappleye, Christine (February 8, 2011). "Matched author Ally Condie on national book tour". Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  27. ^ Beckett, Steven (2019). "Katniss Shrugged: The Problematic Legacy of Ayn Rand in Contemporary American Young Adult Dystopian Literature." Doctoral Thesis, Durham University.
  28. ^ Scholes, Justin; Ostenson, Jon (2013). "Understanding the Appeal of Dystopian Young Adult Fiction". The ALAN Review. 40 (2). doi:10.21061/alan.v40i2.a.2. ISSN 1547-741X.
  29. ^ "For lovers of 'Stranger Things,' a new mystery from Utah author Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs". Deseret News. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  30. ^ "The Darkdeep by Ally Condie, Brendan Reichs". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  31. ^ "The Darkdeep". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  32. ^ "Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs are back with a new 'Darkdeep' sequel, 'The Beast'". Deseret News. 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  33. ^ Reichs, Condie, Ally & Brendan. "The Beast". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-10-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ "The Beast". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  35. ^ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/666042/the-only-girl-in-town-by-ally-condie/ [bare URL]
  36. ^ "Rights Report: Week of November 8, 2021".
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