I didn’t think there was any way that she could spin a character that’s a gang member to be likeable, a hero even. I will admit that initially I was worried. It’s obvious that Elkeles did her homework with this one. West Side Story, forbidden love in the most extreme. You know Pretty in Pink, awesome 80's movie starring Molly Ringwald, rich guy falling for the poor girl on the other side of the tracks. If I had to describe it I’d say it’s like Pretty in Pink meets West Side Story. something in the story just really got to me. This novel was fantastic, it was wonderful, it blew me away! After I finished reading it, I wanted to read it again. (She also loves sushi, which you can probably tell by reading her books.) Simone writes about teens because she was a teen in the 80’s (when spiked hair and blue eye shadow were “rad”) and she loves writing about those exciting teen relationships and romances. She also spends time mentoring other teen and adult authors. In her spare time she’s the Hockey Mom for her kids hockey teams and is an active Girl Scout leader specially trained in outdoor education.
She loves animals (she has two dogs – a labradoodle and a German Shepherd), kids (she also has two of those) and her family. She continued her education at Loyola University-Chicago where she received her Master’s of Science degree in Industrial Relations while working for a manufacturing company creating diversity programs for their employees. Simone went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and received her Bachelor’s of Science there in Psychology in 1992.
Simone was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where she still lives today. Simone is especially proud of the fact that the Illinois Association of Teachers of English named her Author of the Year.
Simone also won the coveted RITA award from the Romance Writers of America for her book Perfect Chemistry. Simone’s books have won many awards including being YALSA Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, being named to the YALSA Popular Paperbacks and Teens Top Ten lists, and added to the Illinois “Read for a Lifetime” Reading List. Simone Elkeles is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of novels for teens.
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