Becky Albertalli Books

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Becky Albertalli is an American author best known for her work in the Young Adult genre. Born in Atlanta, even though Becky has an Italian last name, she actually has Jewish roots.

The author has been writing stories since preschool. Back then, every story she produced was about animals. She was never that interested in sports as a child, even though she made an effort to try all of them out.

Her efforts to pursue the creative arts manifested at an early age. By 12, she was directing tragic plays. She was also doing a lot of reading, especially after she came across and nurtured an obsession for the Harry Potter series.

Attending college in Connecticut, Becky was a psychology major. She spent some time at St. Andrews in Scotland before moving to Washington, D.C. She eventually went on to acquire her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is currently a licensed clinical psychologist.

Becky has spent years working with patients of all ages, from kids to teenagers and even adults. She has rejected any suggestions that she might have used some of her clients’ stories in her work, emphasizing the importance of confidentiality in her field as well as the trust her clients often put in her.

The writer of contemporary young adult novels wrote Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, her first novel after the birth of her son in 2012. By this time, she had abandoned her job as a clinical psychologist. When her son was still little, she began writing the book she always promised herself she would eventually produce.

The results were received far more positively than she could have expected.

Becky Albertalli Awards

Becky Albertalli’s bibliography is pretty small, at least in comparison with other young adult novelists. However, the few books she has written have earned her some notable accolades, this including the William C. Morris YA Debut Award in 2016. She took that award home.

She was also nominated for the National Book Award in 2015.

Becky Albertalli Books into Movies

Alertalli’s book Simon versus the Homo Sapien Agenda was turned into a film by Greg Berlanti of Riverdale and the CW D.C. Superhero shows fame. The film was re-titled Love, Simon and starred Nick Robinson as Simon with his parents being played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel.

The film came out to outstanding reviews and scored a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps more impressive than that, the film scored an “A+” CinemaScore, which is a polling of the audience after leaving the theater.

The movie drew comparisons to the John Hughes comedies of the 1980s such as The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles with many saying that this is the type of movie that John Hughes would’ve made if he ever focused on a young LGBT man. The movie was a big hit among celebrities with many buying out theaters and giving out free tickets, believing in the film’s message so much that they just wanted it to be seen. Kristen Bell, Neil Patrick Harris, and YouTube star Tyler Oakley all partook in this and made sure the film was seen by many young people.

The movie got a lot of great reviews, but the most important one was from the book’s author, Becky Albertalli, who was quoted as saying “It’s funny and relevant and timeless and charming and honest and painful and so romantic. It says exactly what I wanted the book to say.”

The film was a success and more than made back it’s budget, and was the 14th highest grossing teen romance film since 1980. Not bad company.

Questions about a sequel always appear, especially after a success like this, and director Greg Berlanti has said that he is not opposed to doing so. The book’s sequel is called Leah on the Offbeat and features Leah as the protagonist instead of Simon.

Best Becky Albertalli Books

Becky hasn’t been in the publishing business for that long, especially when you compare her work to that of her colleagues in the Young Adult genre. However, she has racked up quite the impressive following in that short amount of time, with some of the best books in her bibliography including the following:

Simon VS the Homo Sapiens Agenda: Simon is a little secretive about his sexual orientation. It isn’t an issue he allows to complicate his life. His world begins to crumble when someone blackmails him using a mishandled email.

If he doesn’t want the truth about his sexual orientation to come out, he must play along with the antiques of his blackmailer. Simon is determined to protect everyone that might be hurt by the exposure of his secret, and so he steps out of his comfort zone and faces this new challenge head on.

This has been described as a coming of age story about a young boy struggling to juggle the expectations of his family and friends and the complexities that his sexual orientation introduces.

The book seems to get dark in some places. But then it comes back and delivers a surprisingly fun and uplifting narrative.

The Upside of Unrequited: Molly has always been afraid of rejection. Even with all the encouragement her twin sister keeps giving her, Molly shows no interest in breaking out of her comfort zone and taking chances.

Things change when a cute girl enters the equation. And that girl brings with her boy problems for Molly, especially when she finds herself stuck between two unexpected choices.

People are often comparing this book to its predecessor, with Becky Albertalli fans claiming that The Upside of Unrequited doesn’t quite live up to the quality of Becky’s first book.

Both books are quite similar and deal with the complexities of teenage life, especially the anxiety that attraction and desire can create. Becky tries to do a few new things in this book.

Her characters drive the book more than the plot which isn’t anything particularly interesting.

When Does The Next Becky Albertalli book come out?

The next book by Becky Albertalli is Amelia, If Only and will be released on June, 10th 2025.

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