Books
The Language of Fire: Joan of Arc Reimagined
Jehanne is an illiterate peasant, never quite at home among her siblings and peers. Until one day she hears a voice call to her, telling her she is destined for important things. She begins to understand that she has been called by God, chosen for a higher purpose: to save France.
Through sheer determination and incredible courage, Jehanne becomes the unlikeliest of heroes. She runs away from home, dresses in men’s clothes, and convinces an army that she will lead France to victory.
Praise for The Language of Fire:
"In this engrossing first-person, present-tense verse novel, Hemphill reimagines the fifteenth-century life of French martyr Joan of Arc. As a female commoner living among men, donning men’s clothes, and marching into battle, Jehanne challenged the period’s accepted gender roles, an empowering example for today’s young readers. Hemphill’s spare, propulsive free verse reinforces Jehanne’s passion for her unconventional life: “I belong among / these men-at-arms / like water belongs / in the sea”; the intimate narrative style humanizes Jehanne and makes her a sympathetic and relatable figure, even over six hundred years later." --Horn Book (starred review)
Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All
Praise for Fatal Throne:
Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
An all-consuming love affair.
A family torn apart by scandal.
A young author on the brink of greatness.
Hideous Love is the fascinating story of gothic novelist Mary Shelley, who as a teen fled her restrictive home only to find herself in the shadow of a brilliant but moody boyfriend, famed poet Percy Shelley. It is the story of the mastermind behind one of the most iconic figures in all of literature: a monster constructed out of dead bodies and brought to life by the tragic Dr. Frankenstein.
Mary wrote Frankenstein at the age of nineteen, and inspiration for the book came from her life—the atmospheric European settings she visited, the dramas swirling around her, and the stimulating philosophical discussions with the greatest minds of the period, like her close friend Lord Byron.
Hideous Love reveals how, despite the cards stacked against her, Mary Shelley became one of the most celebrated authors in history.
Sisters of Glass
Maria is the younger daughter of an esteemed family on the island of Murano, the traditional home of Venetian glassmakers. Though she longs to be a glassblower herself, glassblowing is not for daughters—that is her brother’s work.
Maria has only one duty to perform for her family: before her father died, he insisted that she be married into the nobility, even though her older sister, Giovanna, should rightfully have that role. Not only is Giovanna older, she’s prettier and more graceful, and everyone loves her.
Maria would like nothing better than to allow her older sister, who is far more willing and able to attract a noble husband, to take over this responsibility for her. But they cannot circumvent their father’s wishes. And when a young glassblower arrives to help the family business and Maria finds herself drawn to him, the web of conflicting emotions grows even more tangled.
Praise for Sisters of Glass:
“In a landscape, time, and plot rich with descriptive opportunity, Hemphill’s verse selects and illuminates the best bits, intensifying them like light through glass.” --Booklist (starred review)
Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials
What started out as girls’ games became a witch hunt.
Wicked Girls is a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials told from the perspective of three of the real young women living in Salem in 1692.
Ann Putnam Jr. plays the queen bee. When her father suggests that a spate of illnesses within the village is the result of witchcraft, Ann grasps her opportunity. She puts in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of the people around her forever.
Mercy Lewis, the beautiful servant in Ann’s house, inspires adulation in some and envy in others. With a troubled past, she seizes her only chance at safety.
Margaret Walcott, Ann’s cousin, is desperately in love and consumed with fiery jealousy. She is torn between staying loyal to her friends and pursuing the life she dreams of with her betrothed.
With new accusations mounting daily against the men and women of the community, the girls will have to decide: Is it too late to tell the truth?
Praise for Wicked Girls:
Your Own, Sylvia: a verse portrait of Sylvia Plath
