Candace Ganger Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Candace Ganger is a mother, blogger, and author who is best known for her debut novel “The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash.” Ganger is also an accomplished author that has written articles for the likes of “TWLOHA,” “Teen Vogue,” “Bustle,” and “Hello Giggles.” Her short fiction has also been featured in “Life Inside My Mind,” a young adult mental health anthology. She is also known for writing for the “Bachelor” franchise, “This is Us” and several other TV series. She previously wrote for Identity and covered issues such as relationships, pregnancy, postpartum, motherhood, and identity issues that cut across cultural lines. Before she became a young adult author, blogger and TV writer, she was a vacuum cleaner sales rep, nanotechnology website editor, singer and ghost author for many companies. She has also written tons of award-winning and bestselling fiction and nonfiction works. When she is not writing her novels or articles, she loves watching “Dr. Strange,” feeding her obsessive affinity for Project Chimps, running marathons, drinking latte and donuts, and advocating for mental health awareness.

While Candace Granger is currently resident in Florida, she has said that she met her husband while she was living in Dayton more than a decade ago. As such, she spent a lot of time in Dayton and knows all about the local literary scene. Her time in the Midwest certainly played a huge role in her debut that Bustle called one of the biggest in 2017. She has also written articles documenting her struggles with OCD and anxiety on “Romper” and “Hello Giggles.” Candace also wrote an essay about her struggles with mental health that was published in “Life Inside My Mind” that compiled the essays of 31 authors. Granger had always been a loner for much of her childhood, which perhaps explains her partiality for writing. She used to carry a notebook around and write her stories and ideas in it. When she was in the ninth grade, her teacher read one of her stories and instead of encouraging her, said that she should get help since the story was disturbing. Not one to be deterred, she kept on writing and in fact based Bash the lead character of her debut novel on her experiences in high school. She started penning her manuscript in November of 2014 and was done in a month and a half. She sold the novel after only one major revision and the novel was published in 2017. While it may look like she is an overnight success, she says it was not, given that she was writing greeting cards, ghostwriting novels and articles for more than twelve years to get to where she is.

Candace asserts that she lived her high school life over and over in her life given that it had a lot of ups and downs. It was in high school that She had her first loss, heartbreak and first love and then discovered her sense of identity and who she wanted to become. Her experiences made her very interested in the rawness of teen life and she thought why not relive it through writing. The idea for her debut novel came from an incident that happened to her family in 1979. The novel is set in a small town in the American Midwest and tells the story of two high school seniors. Bash is a student working hard to pass his classes even as he takes care of his mother who is undergoing chemo and Birdie who is top of the class and no worries about passing. Just like the tragic accident that Candace Granger’s family had to go through in 1979, the two lead characters experience something loosely based on that. In her second novel Six Good Byes We Never Said, Candace tells a beautiful and moving story of friendship grief and mental health that can make one cry and smile all at once. She showcases friendship and family in a poignant writing style that is clever and unique yet full of personality. Even as it is a young adult novel, the girl and boy developed a real and complex relationship rather than follow the common trope of being in love. The novel embraces families as they are whether they are stepmother, foster families or grandparent families, it shows that the typical family does not necessarily have to be defined by tenderness, love and support. Overall, the author discusses loss and mental health issues in a relatable and meaningful way with an enticing storyline and unique characters.

Candace Ganger’s “The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash” opens to Birdie at a party that he should have left a long time ago. But then he is still there and runs into Bash in an encounter that is sure to change the course of both of their lives. Sebastian Alvarez “Bash” has been having a hard time holding the pieces in his life together. He is trying his best not to fail his classes and also ensuring that Kyle his best friend with a reputation for wild ways does not go ahead with a really idiotic plan. He also has to take care of his mother who is going through chemotherapy. But then he meets Birdie Paxton, a smoking hot science student who is almost certain to be valedictorian and the sparks of attraction fly. All his worries go out the window and he wants to have fun in the moment. Before he can get her number, she is gone but then they are reunited by a horrific tragedy. They are finally starting to fall for each other but their lives are changing in ways they never thought they would. It is a complex yet beautiful story full of hope told in alternating perspectives.

In “Six Goodbyes We Never Said” two teens learn about letting go, love and loss. Naima Rodriguez is grieving her father, a fallen marine and her hero. She does not want any patronizing sympathy and gets mad when people tell her to remember him by opening up. But that is what her family wants her to do given that she has GAD and OCD, which are complicated by her strong emotions. She prefers to avoid people and friends and lives the life she believes her father wanted her to live. Dew too lost his parents suddenly and asks that people give him time to process his pain. He is suffering from all manner of secret anxieties and uses his voice recorder o say things he cannot say out loud. He needs a friend if he is to navigate all the loss and pain and the intermittent lovely moments. But then he meets Naima and his life is turned upside down. It is a story of fear and love and how some people may need to gather courage and even get help to say goodbye.