Anna Staniszewski Books In Order

Publication Order of My Very UnFairy Tale Life Books

Publication Order of The Dirt Diary Books

Publication Order of Switched at First Kiss Books

Publication Order of Once Upon a Fairy Tale Books

Publication Order of Wish Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Picture Books

Anna Staniszewski is a Polish author and graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. Anna loves children’s books, and she eventually chose to combine that with her passion for writing to deliver stories aimed towards younger audiences.

+Biography

Anna Staniszewski comes from Poland. To be specific, she was born in Warsaw, though most of her childhood memories revolve around Westborough, Massachusetts where she grew up.

Anna has had a passion for reading for so long as she can remember. Even as a resident of Westborough, though, she still indulged in reading stories written in Polish on top of all the English children’s stories that came her way.

Anna’s love for reading eventually fostered a desire for writing, and she fed that desire by experimenting with poetry. She had some luck with her English books, though she will be the first to disparage her poems for being especially terrible.

None the less, she persisted, putting her skills to the test with her old but reliable Polish typewriter. Writing wasn’t the only thing that occupied her mind, though.

Certainly, she dreamt of being an author. But she would have been just as happy teaching or even acting. She also thought she could have some fun being a ballerina. Nothing could stop Anna from pursuing her passions.

And she did just that at Sarah Lawrence College where she studied Theater. Life wasn’t the straight and narrow path she sought after school. She eventually found her way to Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, Mass.

The museum gave Anna Staniszewski exactly what she wanted, an environment filled with people that loved children’s books with a passion. If her fire for writing had been dulled by the rigors of life and the complications that pursuing one’s career can often attract, the community at Eric Carle Museum rekindled it.

Her decision to pursue writing did not automatically open doors for Anna. She had to inject quite a bit of effort to get to where she is today. That involved getting her MA in Children’s Literature at Simmons College as well as an MFA in Writing for Children.

She would have to wait a while before her manuscript for ‘The Tinkerers’ garnered attention. Before that, Anna Staniszewski found a home at the Boston Public Library where she was the Writer-in-residence. She also spent some time teaching at Simmons College, with her focus being Children’s literature.

Anna’s big break came with the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award which her ‘The Tinkerers’ manuscript won in 2009. Anna has come a long way since her days working with her polish typewriter.

She now has an equally reliable computer which she uses to churn out manuscripts from the comfort of a small office and a tiny desk. Readers might not know the name Anna Staniszewski but they might have stumbled upon her ‘My Very UnFairy Tale Life’ series.

+My Very UnFairy Tale Life

This Anna Staniszewski story takes a very different approach to Fairy Tales. The protagonist of the story is in a difficult position. She has grown jaded with her magical world and finds tales of sparkly elves and magical fairies infuriating.

And she can dismiss them authoritatively because this particular girl is an official adventurer. The title is exactly what it sounds like: her job is to traverse the various enchanted kingdoms putting terrible beasts in their place and giving magic creatures peace of mind.

She has seen every myth and legend imaginable and, as a result, she has witnessed her social life deflate, what with her friends forgetting her and her school situation suffering. So, she was pretty certain when she decided to put her tools down and call it quits.

Of course, that was before Prince Charming came calling.

This is the sort of book that every child with a passion for reading can enjoy. There’s everything from dragons to unicorns, and even talking frogs. The main character is pretty lovable as she encounters adventure and leans lessons along the way.

Unlike many children’s authors, Anna remembers to deliver an actual story for readers to sink their teeth into. Rather than pandering to her young audience, she endeavors to build a rich world with intriguing inhabitants that readers can engage with.

Naturally, because of its target audience, some older readers might find this book a little corny. The protagonist, Jenny, is 12-years-old. She spends most of her time visiting enchanted kingdoms and coming to the aid of magical creatures.

Jenny’s obstacle in this book, the first in a series, is an evil sorcerer named Klarr who is making trouble for the Kingdom of Speak. When the assignment first comes her way, Jenny rejects it.

Not only is the sorcerer scary but Jenny has had enough of all the magic and adventure. She just wants to be a normal girl, dealing with homework and trying to figure out her friends. However, Jenny soon finds that normal life is no picnic. More importantly, Klarr the sorcerer cannot be defeated without her help.

She is forced to face her fears.

+The Dirty Diary

Rachel is in a bind. She stole more than $200 from her college fund. She risks being grounded for life if her Mom learns of her crime. Rachel’s only solution is to pay the money back.

This is despite the fact that sacrificing her Saturdays to clean toilets doesn’t appeal to her. Rachel is already a loser. She knows that cleaning toilets will do nothing good for her reputation.

However, she soon learns that cleaning up after the most popular kids in her school has its advantage, specifically all the dirt she comes across.

This book does a decent job of thrusting readers back into the life of an insecure teenager, where appearance seems to matter more than anything, and everyone works a little too hard to keep up pretenses.

The protagonist of the story, Rachel, realizes that in cleaning up after the popular kids in her school, she is availed access to their drawers and closets and all the secrets hidden within.

The book is pretty easy to predict, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. Rachel finds herself in a bind when the boy she likes compels her to spy on his girlfriend.