Scott, Elizabeth

PERSONAL:

Born in VA; daughter of high school teachers; married. Education: College degree.

ADDRESSES:

Home—P.O. Box 638, Manassas Park, VA 20113. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Has worked as an editor, an office manager, and in sales.

WRITINGS:

Bloom, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2007.

Perfect You, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2008.

Stealing Heaven, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2008.

Living Dead Girl, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2008.

Something, Maybe, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2009.

Love You, Hate You, Miss You, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2009.

SIDELIGHTS:

Within only a few years of having her first novel published, Elizabeth Scott has established herself as an author of honest and unvarnished stories about young women struggling to manage schoolwork, romantic relationships, friendships, family life, and self-image. In novels such as Bloom, Perfect You, and Stealing Heaven, Scott creates female characters with recognizable personality traits, not all of them admirable.

Lauren, the protagonist of Scott's debut novel Bloom, cannot quite understand why she has won the heart of the most popular boy in her school, especially since they seem to have nothing in common. When an old friend named Evan arrives in town, Lauren finds herself in a love triangle as she tries to figure out what qualities she values most in a relationship. Even as she deceives her boyfriend in order to spend time with Evan, Lauren wonders why her old friend's more-dangerous lifestyle appeals to her. Reviewing Bloom for Kliatt, Amanda MacGregor called Lauren "a refreshingly complex character … trying to figure out how to be herself." According to School Library Journal contributor Sarah Krygier, the conflict Scott introduces in her novel "rings true," creating "enough drama to keep readers interested."

Perfect You explores the life of Kate, a character for whom everything seems to be falling apart. While Kate's best friend ditches her, her clueless father blissfully sells vitamins at the local mall. Meanwhile, Kate's grandmother keeps trying to run the teen's life, and her complicated relationship with her boyfriend is becoming mostly physical. In School Library Journal Natasha Forrester wrote that in Perfect You Scott "does a good job portraying a teen who is simultaneously self-centered and sympathetic."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July-August, 2007, Deborah Stevenson, review of Bloom, p. 484.

Kliatt, May, 2007, Amanda MacGregor, review of Bloom, p. 28.

School Library Journal, June, 2007, Sarah Krygier, review of Bloom, p. 160; April, 2008, Natasha Forrester, review of Perfect You, p. 148.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2007, Angelica Delgado, review of Bloom, p. 152.

ONLINE

Elizabeth Scott Home Page,http://www.elizabethwrites.com (October 28, 2008).