“Echoing the poetic quality of Laure’s prose, Zakimi’s watercolor, pencil, and gouache images are luminous with pale hues that communicate a tender innocence.” ―Publishers Weekly
“The poetic text and charming pictures celebrate a special time and universal feelings.” ―Booklist
Estelle Laure
Estelle Laure is the author of ten published and/or forthcoming picture books and young adult novels, including acclaimed novel This Raging Light and Disney's City of Villains trilogy. She has been an Indie Next pick, a BEA Buzz Book author, a Junior Library Gold Standard Selection, and has worked for nearly a decade as an agency associate and editorial consultant with Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA in Theatre Arts from New Mexico State University. She lives in Taos, New Mexico (the best place on earth) with her family, and has been translated into more than fifteen languages around the world.
Books
Practice Girl
May 17, 2022
Viking Press/Penguin Random House
"A must for teens who can handle sexually explicit material, and who are interested in wrestling, feminism, and challenging stereotypes."
-School Library Journal, starred review
"A powerful, poignant story about a girl rewriting her story on her own terms. Jo Beckett's journey of sexual and emotional agency is at once tender, painful, hilarious, and courageous."
—Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
A YALSA 2023 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
An emotional and empowering novel about reputation and double standards, perfect for fans of Katie Cotugno and Sarah Dessen.
Jo Beckett is looking for love. She's fallen for a few boys, but for some reason, they've never fallen for her. One night, at a party she didn't even want to go to, she finds out the truth. Those boys, who are on the wrestling team she manages, consider her just a “practice girl”—the popular term for girl who’s good enough to hook up with but not to date. With this crushing revelation, Jo feels so many things--heartsick, ashamed, betrayed, and angry. But she refuses to let that label define her. In piecing her life back together, Jo is forced to unpack more uncomfortable truths about all her relationships--from her best friend to the boy she likes--that help her understand her real worth.
From the author of the acclaimed This Raging Light, Practice Girl is a heart-wrenching, relatable, and ultimately triumphant story about a girl who rejects her label and decides for herself who she is to the world.
Remember Me
March 22, 2022
Wednesday Books/Macmillan
click here for an animated preview
Inspired by The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the story follows Blue, who rediscovers herself while on a mission to recover the troubling memories she has had erased in order to avoid her heartbreak.
"With a deft hand, Estelle Laure explores the rabbit hole of memory in this poignant, thought-provoking YA novel set in the near future. Blue's determination, courage, and eventual anguish as she journeys into the once-known kept me absolutely riveted."
--Susan Mihalic, critically-acclaimed author of Dark Horses
"Bold, provocative, and ambitious, Remember Me is a searing interrogation of the intersection between memory, pain, and love. I couldn't put it down."--Jasmine Warga, Newbery award-winning author of Other Words For Home
City Of Villains
January 26, 2021
Disney Hyperion
Disney’s Villains meet Gotham in this gritty fairy tale-inspired crime series from Disney Hyperion.
Mary Elizabeth Heart is a high school senior by day, but by night she’s an intern at the Monarch City police department. She watches with envy from behind a desk as detectives come and go, trying to contain the city’s growing crime rate. For years, tension has simmered between the city’s wealthy elite, and their plans to gentrify the decaying neighborhood called the Scar—once upon a time the epicenter of all things magic.
"A twisty and entertaining magic-filled mystery." --Kirkus
"A glimpse of the dark side of Disney with a tenacious heroine and fast-paced suspense." --School Library Journal
"Any fan who picks up City of Villains won’t be able to put it down." --Nerds and Beyond
Rural Voices
October 13, 2020
Candlewick Press
"'[I]gnorance doesn’t have a zip code,' explains Shae Carys in the contributor write-ups at the back of this story collection, a sentiment that perfectly captures the frustration felt by the fictional characters. Every story in this collection tackles life in small-town America and asks the reader to consider the multiplicity of factors that comprise the identities of the characters, whether they are bisexual and Catholic in a poverty-stricken region of Texas, a dreamer who aims to become the first Puerto Rican Rodeo Queen in Utah, or a young Black man lacking class privilege and unsure of how to make his dreams a reality. These stories peel off the layers of the characters through short prose pieces, poetry, and graphic novel panels. The stories span a range of tones, from funny, to heart-breaking, to one that readers will not want to experience alone at night. Fifteen award-winning authors contributed to this collection, including David Bowles, David Macinnis Gill, and Ashley Hope Peréz. The writers bring authentic voices to their work in addition to their biographies, shared at the back of the book. This collection will be a high-interest read for middle and high school students. The stories could also be used in the classroom to inspire a journaling assignment so that students can introspect on the layers of their own identity, or as jumping-off points to examine the power and privilege reflected in some works of classic literature. This book is a must-purchase for libraries serving middle and high school readers."--School Library Journal, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection
Mayhem
July 14, 2020
Wednesday Books/Macmillan
"With Mayhem, Estelle Laure offers a beguilling, lyrical, beach-gothic page-turner. I loved every twist and turn of this story about the darkness that lurks beneath paradise. Mayhem is her best book yet."--Jeff Zentner, acclaimed author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days
"A vivid tale that deftly explores pain and empowerment. A compelling, unrelenting work of magical realism that will enthrall fans of nuanced feminist revenge fantasies."--School Library Journal
But Then I Came Back
April 2017
HMH Kids
"Rendered with insight and compassion, Eden’s struggles to make peace with the human condition add up to a riveting coming-of-age story." --starred review, Kirkus
"But Then I Came Back is magical and illuminating, lovely and lyrical."--Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times best selling author of Girls in Pieces
"Much like Laure's writing, Eden's story is haunting and raw. You will root for her as she struggles through her new reality and fall with her as she finds love."--Goldy Moldavsky, author of Kill the Boy Band
This Raging Light
December 2015
HMH Kids
"With This Raging Light, Estelle Laure establishes herself as a literary heavyweight."--David Arnold, author of Mosquitoland
"I loved this book. I was torn between wanting to devour it in one breathless read and needing to stop and savor each gorgeous turn of phrase."--Morgan Matson, author of The Unexpected Everything
