Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
Mary Porter-Malcolm has prepared for high school in the one way she knows how: an extensive review of classic literature to help navigate the friendships, romantic liaisons, and overall drama she has come to expect from such an “esteemed” institution. Her love of literature even inspires her to imagine herself the heroine of a nineteenth-century novel. Not the sort who makes poor life choices and ends up dying of consumption while still in her teens, but the noble, virtuous, quick-witted type.
When some new friends seem in danger of falling for the same tricks employed since the days of Austen and Tolstoy, Mary swoops in to create the Scoundrel Survival Guide, using archetypes of literature’s debonair bad boys to signal red flags. But despite her best efforts, she soon finds herself unable to listen to her own good advice and falling for a supposed cad—the same one she warned her friends away from. Without a convenient rain-swept moor to flee to, Mary is forced to admit that real life doesn’t follow the same rules as fiction and that if she wants a happy ending, she’s going to have to write it herself.
Can you briefly describe BY THE BOOK and its characters?
When bookish Mary Porter-Malcolm transfers to a crowded public high school her sophomore year, she stumbles into a new group of friends who rely on her extensive knowledge of classic literature to help them sidestep scoundrels and other social catastrophes – including the dangerously debonair Alex Ritter.
Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?
If I could get away with claiming “Mary’s family” as a single character, that would be my answer, because I love sibling (and parent) banter. Otherwise I’ll confess to a sneaking fondness for Lydia, the boldest and most outspoken of Mary’s new friends. She’s a lot like my high school BFF, who is still my best friend (mumble-mumble) years later.
How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?
I had been working on a dark, sad, speculative story for several years when I finally accepted that I wasn’t ready to write that particular book. To console myself, I decided my next project would be something fun and funny and light, and rather than dealing with complex magic and twisted backstories, it would fall squarely into my wheelhouse: book-loving nerds. From there I just kept adding more of my favorite things, like a big, quirky family; a small town full of eccentric secondary characters; lots of food descriptions; and silly puns.
What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?
I vote tea and scones on a nice squishy sofa, since Mary (like so many lovers of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters) is a bit of an Anglophile, and this is a very cozy book.
Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish BY THE BOOK?
ORDINARY GIRLS by Blair Thornburgh; WE ARE THE PERFECT GIRL by Ariel Kaplan; FIRST & THEN by Emma Mills; and TECHNICALLY, YOU STARTED IT by Lana Wood Johnson. All four of those are funny, romantic YA contemporaries that riff on classic lit.
What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?
While contemplating this answer I checked Instagram, popped over to Goodreads, had a cup of jasmine tea, caught up with my Slack conversations, replied to a text, skimmed my Twitter notifications and dealt with an attention-starved cat. So I’m going to have to go with PROCRASTINATION!
What’s next for you?
I’m working on another funny and romantic YA contemporary with literary underpinnings, loosely tied to BY THE BOOK. Unlike Mary, the heroine of this one has no problem speaking her mind, so the tone is more salty than sweet.
Debut author Amanda Sellet had a previous career in journalism, during which she wrote book reviews for The Washington Post, personal essays for NPR, and music and movie coverage for VH1. These days she lives in Kansas with her archaeologist husband and their daughter.
