# Elana K. Arnold

Elana Kuczynski Arnold is an American children's and young adult author. Her 2017 novel What Girls Are Made Of was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and her 2018 novel Damsel was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honor title in 2019.
In 2022, three of Arnold's books (Damsel, Red Hood, and What Girls Are Made Of ) were listed among 52 novels banned by the Alpine School District following the implementation of Utah H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools."

## Biography

Arnold obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature from University of California, Irvine. In 1998, she Master of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis.
Arnold now teaches with Hamline University's Master of Fine Arts program focusing on Writing for Children and Young Adults.
She lives in Southern California.

## Awards and honors

Nine of Arnold's book are Junior Library Guild selections: A Boy Called Bat (2017), Bat and the Waiting Game (2018), Damsel (2018), Bat at the End of Everything (2019), The House That Wasn't There (2021), Red Hood (2021), Starla Jean (2021), and Just Harriet (2022).
In 2021, Publishers Weekly named Red Hood one of the top ten young adult novels of the year.
Awards for Arnold's writing :
| Year | Title | Award | Result |
| 2015 | Infaduous | Moonbeam Children's Book Award for Young Adult Fiction - General | Winner |
| 2016 | Infaduous | Amelia Bloomer Book List | Selection |
| 2016 | Infaduous | Westchester Fiction Award | Winner |
| 2017 | What Girls Are Made Of | California Book Award | Finalist |
| 2017 | What Girls Are Made Of | National Book Award for Young People's Literature | Finalist |
| 2018 | What Girls Are Made Of | Amelia Bloomer Book List | Selection |
| 2018 | Damsel | Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth | Selection |
| 2019 | Damsel | Amelia Bloomer Book List | Top 10 |
| 2019 | Damsel | Michael L. Printz Award | Honor |
| 2021 | Red Hood | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | Selection |
| 2021 | Red Hood | Amelia Bloomer Book List | Top 10 |

## Publications
### Young adult novels

* Sacred (2012)
* Burning (2013)
* Splendor (2013)
* Infandous (2015)
* What Girls Are Made Of (2017)
* Damsel (2018)
* Red Hood (2020)
* The Blood Years (2022)

### Middle grade books

* The Question of Miracles (2015)
* Far from Fair (2016)
* The House That Wasn't There (2021)
* Just Harriet (2022)

#### A Boy Called Bat series

* A Boy Called Bat (2017)
* Bat and the Waiting Game (2018)
* Bat and the End of Everything (2019)

#### Starla Jean series

* Starla Jean, illustrated by A. N. Kang (2021)
* Starla Jean Takes the Cake (2022)
* Starla Jean Cracks the Case (2023)

### Picture books

* What Riley Wore (2019)
* All by Himself? (2022)
* Pip and Zip (2022)

## Reception

In 2024 the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature passed a law mandating the removal of books deemed objectionable from all Utah public schools (including charter schools). On 2 August 2024 the Utah State School Board released its first list of banned books. Elana K. Arnold's young adult novel What Girls Are Made Of was on this list.

### Banning

In 2024 the book Infandus was banned in Texas by the Katy Independent School District on the basis that the novel is "adopting, supporting, or promoting gender fluidity" despite also pronouncing a bullying policy that protects infringements on the rights of the student.