Gayle Forman

Gayle Forman
Forman at the 2016 Texas Book Festival
Forman at the 2016 Texas Book Festival
Born (1970-06-05) June 5, 1970 (age 54)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
GenreChildren's books, young adult books, novels
Notable worksIf I Stay
Where She Went
Just One Day
Just One Year
Website
gayleforman.com

Gayle Forman (born June 5, 1970) is an American young adult fiction author, best known for her novel If I Stay, which topped the New York Times best sellers list of Young Adult Fiction and was made into a film of the same name.

Career

Forman began her career writing for Seventeen magazine, with most of her articles focusing on young people and social concerns. Later she became a freelance journalist for Details, Jane, Glamour, The Nation, Elle Magazine, and Cosmopolitan.[1]

In 2002, she and her husband Nick took a trip around the world, in which she garnered experiences and information which later served as the basis for her first book, a travelogue, You Can't Get There From Here: A Year On the Fringes of a Shrinking World.[2] In 2007, she published her first young adult novel, Sisters in Sanity, based on an article she had written for Seventeen.[3]

In 2009, Forman released If I Stay, a book about a 17-year-old girl named Mia who has been involved in a tragic car accident and lies in a coma fully aware of what is going on around her. Forman won the 2009 NAIBA Book of the Year Award, and was a 2010 Indies Choice Book Award winner for the book.[4] The film adaptation of If I Stay, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, was released in the United States on August 22, 2014.[5] The book's sequel, titled Where She Went, was released in 2011. Told from Adam's point of view, the novel is about Adam and Mia's relationship a few years after the accident.[6]

In January 2013, Forman released Just One Day. The novel follows Allyson Healey, who, on the last day of a post-graduation European tour, meets a Dutch vagabond actor named Willem. In an uncharacteristic, spur-of-the moment decision, Allyson goes to Paris with Willem, where they spend a day together before he disappears.[7] The book's sequel, Just One Year, was released in October 2013. It follows the same chronological path as Allyson's story, but told from the perspective of Willem.[8] The final installment of Allyson and Willem's story, Just One Night, is a 50-page novella that was released in ebook format on May 29, 2014.[9]

In January 2015, Forman released I Was Here, about an 18-year-old girl dealing with the sudden suicide of her best friend. Movie rights to the book were picked up by New Line Cinema a month later.[10]

Forman's first adult novel, titled Leave Me, was released on September 6, 2016,[11][12] with a U.K. release date of October 19, 2017.[13]

Awards

Forman won the British Fantasy Award (2010) and the ALA/YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2010). She was nominated for the South Carolina Book Award for Young Adult Book Award (2011), the TAYSHAS High School Reading List (2010), the Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction (2009), and the Milwaukee County Teen Book Award (2010).

Personal life

Forman resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Nick Tucker and her daughter Willa Forman.[14] [citation needed]

At the 2010 annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Forman participated in panel discussions. She was on the panel "Young Adult Fiction: Teens and Turmoil" with Jandy Nelson, Cynthia Kadohata and moderator Sonya Sones.[15]

Books

  • You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World (2005)
  • Sisters in Sanity (2007)
  • If I Stay (2009)
  • Where She Went (2011)
  • Just One Day (2013)
  • Just One Year (2013)
  • Just One Night (2014)
  • I Was Here (2015)
  • Leave Me (2016)
  • I Have Lost My Way (2018)
  • We Are Inevitable (2021)

References

  1. ^ Minzesheimer, Bob (3 July 2014). "Book Buzz exclusive: New Gayle Forman excerpt, jacket". USA Today. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ Ingall, Marjorie (8 April 2005). "Traveling The World — By Proxy". Forward. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  3. ^ Yang, Tatin (1 February 2014). "Author Gayle Forman on seeing her book 'If I Stay' become a film, hanging out with Chloe Moretz and raising $10,000 for Supertyphoon 'Yolanda' survivors". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Announcing the 2010 Indies Choice Book Award Winners". American Booksellers Association. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Warner Bros., MGM Partner on YA Pic 'If I Stay,' Set 2014 Release". hollywoodreporter.com. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  6. ^ Shotwell, James (24 August 2014). "Editorial: The Potential 'If I Stay' Sequel Is Nothing Like The Original". Under the Gun Review. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  7. ^ LoveBook, Hannah (5 May 2015). "Just One Day by Gayle Forman - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  8. ^ White, Caitlin (15 November 2014). "Gayle Forman's 'Just One Day' and 'Just One Year' Will Follow 'If I Stay' To The Big Screen". Bustle. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  9. ^ Crutcher, Paige (6 May 2014). "Gayle Forman Concludes 'Just One Day' and 'Just One Year' with the E-Novella 'Just One Night'". Publishers' Weekly. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  10. ^ McNary, Dave (24 February 2015). "Gayle Forman's 'I Was Here' Movie in Development at New Line". Variety. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  11. ^ Biedenharn, Isabella (23 June 2015). "Gayle Forman to write first novel for adults -- exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  12. ^ "LC Catalog - No Connections Available". catalog.loc.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  13. ^ Leave Me. 2017-10-19. ISBN 978-1-4711-5679-3.
  14. ^ "Novelist Gayle Forman on American Music Club's 'Firefly'". Wall Street Journal. 2015-06-09. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  15. ^ Sunday Panels Archived 2010-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, April 25, 2010