Anna-Marie McLemore Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Remixed Classics Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Anna-Marie McLemore is an author of the Mexican-American heritage. She was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in a Mexican-American family. It is from this culture that her work originates. The love for the stories she learned from her family is the foundation for her writing. Marie is a resident of Sacramento, Northern California.

Growing up Anna-Marie was sent to the University of Southern California on trustee scholarship. Her debut novel The Weight of Feathers was published in 2015. The book was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award, and it was the top pick by YALSA Best Fiction for Best Young Adult Category. In 2016, Anna-Marie won the James Tiptree, Jr Literary Award; an award is meant to encourage gender expansion and exploration. Her book When the Moon Was Ours also earned her an award for the fact that she used the Character of Samir, a transgender boy.

The Weight of Feathers

Rivalry and Enmity has been the order of the day for the Palomas and the Corbeaus for over two decades. The feud has been locked in, and gradually keeps growing through generations. The two families earn their living by traveling as performers and also competing in shows. The Palomas earn a living from mermaid exhibitions while the Corbeaus perform in the tallest trees that they can find; these may be an aftermath of their former professions which was tightrope walking.

Lace Paloma could be a newbie to her family’s show, but even she understands as well as anyone else that the Corbeaus are without a doubt real magic Negra, black magic that only the devil himself can give. The magic was so high that it could kill a person just by touching it. Lace has always been taught to stay away from it ever since she was young.

Unfortunately, disaster strikes in a small town where the two families had been performing, and Lace’s life is at risk. Luckily she is saved by a boy named Cluck a member of the Corbeaus family. From his touch, she could feel herself getting submerged into the world of the Corbeaus and falling for him could turn her family against her, and she knows very well that one wrong step on the ground could be just as deadly as it could be in the trees.

The Weight of Feathers is a brilliant read ideal for young adults. The author, Marie has beautifully written the book, and she makes it wholly captivating by the fertile imagination put into it. The story is narrated from alternating viewpoints of two members of the two families. First, there is Lace Paloma, a young girl who does whatever it takes to remain thin to become a member of the mermaid performers. Then there is Cluck, a Corbeau young man who operates behind the scene fixing the performers.

Wild Beauty

The women of Nomeolvides have been known to nature and take care of the grounds of La Pradera. La Pradera is a garden teeming with life, and it creates an enchantment to the tourists who come from all over the world to visit the garden. The women not only have a duty to tend to the garden but also to keep hidden a legacy of terror that they carry with them. The legacy is that if the women of Nomeoldives fall in love too deep their lovers are bound to disappear mysteriously. However, then, after several generations of the strange vanishings, a mysterious boy shows up in the gardens.

To Estrella, the boy is more like a puzzle. He is not just a mystery to her but also to her whole family and what’s more confusing is that the boy is a mystery to himself as well. The only thing he knows about himself is his first name and has no idea of his identity, where he came from or even how he got to La Pradera. Estrella sets out to help Fel (the strange boy) to discover more about himself and his past. As she goes on with her quest, La Pradera sets them on a path that leads them to secrets that are just as magical as they are dangerous in an exploration of love, loss and family ties.

When the Moon Was Ours

Miel and Samir are the best of friends, and their bond is like no other. To all the people that know them Miel and Sam are both inseparable and odd in equal measures. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrists, and rumors are that she spilled out of a water tank when she was five.

On the other hand, Sam is best known for his paintings of the moon that he hangs on the trees. Very little is known about Sam’s life for he and mother had relocated to the small town a few years back.

However, as much as everyone in town thinks of them, Sam and Miel have managed to stay away from the Bonner girls- four beautiful sisters of the village rumored to be witches. These four witches are set out on a mission, seeking the roses that sprout out of Miel’s skin. It is believed that the scent of roses has the power to make a person fall head over heels in love. With their unfailing determination, the girls are determined to make use of every possible means even if it means revealing to the world a secret that Miel has battled to keep hidden.

When the Moon was Ours is a story-driven exclusively by the characters and their day to day life struggles. It is an ultimate story of friendship and love that exists between Samir, a Pakistani-Italian transgender boy, and Latina Miel. The author wove it with Spanish legends, lunar references and family dynamics making it a unique Young Adult novel. It is great to see a non-contemporary novel tackle teen “themes” in such a heartbreaking and sensitive manner. For example, through Sam, the author manages to bring into limelight the challenges of transgender, racism that many young people face in the modern world.