An author by any other name … would write a very different book! For the Amazing Book Challenge category “Undercover Authors,” we explore the books in which the authors use pen names in place of their own to protect their privacy, reinvent themselves, cross genres or simply create a more memorable byline.
To see a full list of recommendations and the other Amazing Book Challenge categories, go to www.naperville-lib.org/ABC.
“Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour” by Nora Nguyen (aka Thao Thai)
Evie Lang’s life is in shambles until hope arrives in the form of a surprising letter. Auntie Hảo has left Evie the deed to her San Francisco row house. The catch? To inherit, she must go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Vietnam. A world away, Adam Quyền is working around the clock as chief markteting officer for his sister’s elite matchmaking business, a job complicated by her insistence that he knows nothing about love. From the bustling streets of Hồ Chí Minh City to the soaring waterfalls in Đà Lạt, Adam and Evie keep getting thrown together, their animosity charged with attraction … and they discover that true love may be out there if they are willing to take a leap.
“Assassin’s Apprentice” by Robin Hobb (aka Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden)
Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard. Only his magical link with animals — the old art known as the Wit — gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility. So, when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners and how to kill a man secretly as he trains to become a royal assassin.
“This Will be Fun” by E. B. Asher (aka Bridget Morrissey, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka)
Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare and valiant leader Galwell the Great, defended the land from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all — except the former heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them. But when they receive an invitation to the queen’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse. Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, they face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare and, hardest of all, their past.
“Vicious” by V.E. Schwab (aka Victoria Elizabeth Schwab)
Victor and Eli are college roommates when in their senior year supernatural events reveal an intriguing possibility: under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe). Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge, but who will be left alive at the end?
“Check & Mate” by Ali Hazelwood (real name not disclosed)
Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. After the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning bad boy of chess. Nolan’s loss to an unknown rookie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. And as Mallory’s love for the sport, she so desperately wanted to hate, begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board.
“The Boyfriend” by Freida McFadden (real name not disclosed)
Sydney Shaw has terrible luck with dating until one day she hits the jackpot. Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He’s charming, handsome and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Then the brutal murder of a young woman ― the latest in a string of deaths across the coast ― confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them. But Sydney can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim.
“Poison for Breakfast” by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler)
This true story — as true as Lemony Snicket himself — begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum,” the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water and much else.
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou (aka Marguerite Annie Johnson)
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Sent by their mother to live with their grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At 8 years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age — and must live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, kindness of others, her own strong spirit and the ideas of great authors will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Ashlee Conour is the marketing specialist at Naperville Public Library.
