Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been in love with books and writing, but in high school I realized I wanted to touch people’s lives on an emotional level. A friend told me my writing had changed their perspective about an incident where their brother almost died. It made me think that if I could positively impact one person with a play, what else could I do (even for complete strangers). We all struggle with emotions, and it’s okay! We should be allowed to feel our emotions—regardless of our age or gender identity. Everyone should know that they’re not alone; emotions are universal. They are part of what connects us to each other. 


I wrote

Birdwhistle Estate

By Jennifer J. Lacelle,

Book cover of Birdwhistle Estate

What is my book about?

Birdwhistle Estate is a young adult urban fantasy, tragedy, drama, and adventure set in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While the city…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Roses and Rot

Jennifer J. Lacelle Why did I love this book?

This book is such a heartfelt tale surroundings two sisters raised by a woman who cared little of their emotional states and only of perfection in the arts. While revolving around the real world, readers are taken to a mystical realm with the protagonists as they discover magic and the fae exist. It’s the struggles we all face in life that this book touches on. As an artist I can understand the need for perfection in my art, like the characters.

By Kat Howard,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Roses and Rot as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Imogen and her sister Marin escape their cruel mother to attend a prestigious artists' retreat, but soon learn that living in a fairy tale requires sacrifices, whether it be art or love in this critically acclaimed debut novel from "a remarkable young writer" (Neil Gaiman, American Gods).

Imogen has grown up reading fairy tales about mothers who die and make way for cruel stepmothers. As a child, she used to lie in bed wishing that her life would become one of these tragic fairy tales because she couldn't imagine how a stepmother could be worse than her mother now. As…


Book cover of A Great and Terrible Beauty

Jennifer J. Lacelle Why did I love this book?

This book is the first in a trilogy by Libba Bray. I read it when I was a teenager and it made me want to write stories that made people feel, that brought their emotions to life! The story follows a girl (Gemma) whose life gets turned upside and she has to figure out what comes next. There’s magic and emotions and otherworldly happenings in this tale. I think many people, teenagers, and adults, can relate to struggling to find their place in the world. I know I do! 

By Libba Bray,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Great and Terrible Beauty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?


Book cover of The Selection

Jennifer J. Lacelle Why did I love this book?

This book takes the readers into a dystopian version of North America: the world is no longer the same! America Singer, a poor girl from a lower caste, is selected to play bachelorette with the prince (along with 29 other girls) while the country is in chaos with rebellions. It’s a really great story that evokes thoughts about the system of the world we live in while springing us into new versions of the real world.  

By Kiera Cass,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Selection as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Thirty-five beautiful girls. Thirty-five beautiful rivals...

It's the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for The Selection, a reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon's love.

Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others.

Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they…


Book cover of The Lost Girl

Jennifer J. Lacelle Why did I love this book?

As you can probably see, I like books that are emotionally provocative. This book does just that! It’s just such a different kind of story where the protagonist was built to be exactly like someone else, including memories and life, just in case something happens to the original. It’s a raw look at who someone really is and how they become that person. 

By Sangu Mandanna,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lost Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination - an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her 'other', if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she's ever known - the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love -…


Book cover of Eve

Jennifer J. Lacelle Why did I love this book?

This one is a dystopian novel (again) but another that’s all about survival and emotions. Making decisions isn’t always easy and sometimes we have to overcome a lot and that’s precisely what the protagonist has to do. Surviving in the new world isn’t easy and she’s got some tough, emotional changes to endure in this read. 

By Anna Carey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eve as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book in Anna Carey's chilling Eve trilogy, Eve is perfect for fans of The Handmaiden's Tale. After a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a terrifying place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has grown up isolated from the rest of the destroyed world in an all-girls school. But it isn't until the night before her graduation that she discovers what her duties will be once she graduates. To avoid the horrifying fate that awaits her, Eve flees the only home she's ever known. On the run, she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the…


Explore my book 😀

Birdwhistle Estate

By Jennifer J. Lacelle,

Book cover of Birdwhistle Estate

What is my book about?

Birdwhistle Estate is a young adult urban fantasy, tragedy, drama, and adventure set in Thunder Bay, Ontario. While the city exists in real life, it’s a whole new world as fiction and reality collide. The story also follows themes of loss, forgiveness, grief, and consequences—something everyone can relate to on some level. It’s a slow-burn kind of story with a rush at the end and perhaps even an ending you didn’t expect given the main character’s personality. 

Book cover of Roses and Rot
Book cover of A Great and Terrible Beauty
Book cover of The Selection

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In the Money With You

By Edie Cay,

Book cover of In the Money With You

Edie Cay Author Of A Lady's Resilience

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author History buff Avid reader Amateur baker Dog cuddler

Edie's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Prudence Cabot sailed to Europe to find a lover.

As an American widow flush with cash, she has hopes of finding the burning, passionate love she never experienced in her marriage. But instead, she found The Ladies Alpine Society, and is now pressed into planning a fundraising ball with the expedition’s accountant, Leo Moon. Prudence feels out of her depth, but glad to have a partner-in-crime to help her navigate British culture. But the taciturn Mr. Moon doesn’t like her—or does he like her too much?

One look and she saw right through him. 

Leo Moon is not his real…

In the Money With You

By Edie Cay,

What is this book about?

Prudence Cabot sailed to Europe to find a lover.. As an American widow flush with cash, she has hopes of finding the burning, passionate love she never experienced in her marriage. But instead, she found The Ladies Alpine Society, and is now pressed into planning a fundraising ball with the expedition’s accountant, Leo Moon. Prudence feels out of her depth, but glad to have a partner-in-crime to help her navigate British culture. But the taciturn Mr. Moon doesn’t like her—or does he like her too much?. One look and she saw right through him.. Leo Moon is not his real…


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