Kody Keplinger Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Hamilton High Books
The DUFF | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Shut Out | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
A Midsummer's Nightmare | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Lying Out Loud | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
The Swift Boys & Me | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Run | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
That's Not What Happened | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Lila and Hadley | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Collections
Secrets & Lies | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Graphic Novels
Poison Ivy: Thorns | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Anthologies
Kody Keplinger is a romance, young adult, and humor author from New York City. Keplinger was born in a very small town in Kentucky and had very few choices for high school as there was just one for the entire county. Everyone she knew went to the same high school and there were just about a hundred students in her graduating class. This was very small as compared to what you would have in a major city. At the school, she had basic English classes, and an advanced one like the AP class and the honors English class. As such, she never had any training in creative writing and much of her writing in the early days was in her regular English classes which everyone had to do anyway. Nonetheless, the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author is the author of several novellas, a middle-grade novel, four young adult titles. She is also the author of “The Duff,” a blockbuster title that is set to be made into a movie starring Robbie Amell and Mae Whitman. The most amazing thing about this is that she achieved all of it by the time she was just 24. Kody now lives in New York City and continues to write young adult and fantasy while teaching writing workshops on the side.
Keplinger always loved to write and has always written and hence it was not a surprise that she published her first novel while still in high school. She fell in love in the second grade when the class was given an assignment to write something for the class and she found it so exciting and fun. Given that she never had internet and cable at home at this time, writing became her biggest hobby. After she was done with her school work, she would usually spend much of her evening writing. Keplinger would usually write while she watched TV since she usually works best with some background noise. Much of “The Duff,” her debut novel was written while she was listening and watching Gossip Girl. As she got older, she got involved in fan fiction and wrote a lot of it while in middle and high school. She had several friends that also wrote fan fiction and when she was done with her first real novel, she distributed it to them for some feedback and critique. She also joined several writing communities and made friends with people that were published and many aspiring writers that offered to critique her work.
Before Kody Keplinger wrote her debut novel, she had written and queried another one when she was a sixteen-year-old. It was a terrible query letter and it never went anywhere as none of the agents she queried responded. When she finally finished writing the manuscript for “The DUFF,” she decided that she would write a better query letter and not tell the agent that she was seventeen. The agent that signed her on was shocked to learn that she was working with a high schooler. As such, her mother had to co-sign much of the paperwork on the publishing deal for her debut novel. In the middle of signing her deal, she decided that she no longer needed to continue studying Creative Writing at Ithaca and quit. Keplinger thought it did not make much sense to study writing when she already had a bright future carved out in front of her. Moreover, she wanted to write and teach rather than get a master’s in writing that may not have been that useful. When she made that decision, one of her professors recommended Gotham and she has been teaching there ever since while writing during her free time. “The DUFF” was published in 2010 and is set to be made into a film.
Kody Keplinger’s “The DUFF,” which is short for “Designated Ugly Fat Friend” is the story of the cynical and bitter Bianca who is always lashing out. She had become this way since she had experienced some trauma and hence she does not believe in love, hates Valentine’s Day, school dances, and anything to do with romance. But Jessica and Casey her beautiful and sweet best friends think the world of her. One day after they drag her to an under 21 non-alcohol club, she is approached by Wesley one of the hottest guys in her class. He is an insensitive jerk that tells her that she is the DUFF and that he gets points with her more attractive friends by talking to her. When she learns that DUFF means Designated Ugly Friend, she gets mad and throws her coke all over him. While it might seem a little harsh, it has to be understood that Bianca has problems at home as her mother has not been seen at home for months and her father has so far failed to convince her to come back. Her father is not having the best time given that he misses his wife and his frustrations are spilling over to Bianca. Her frustrations only mount when she learns that her ex is coming back home.
“Shut Out” by Kody Keplinger is a retelling of Lysistrata’s Aristophanes. The lead is Lissa who is tired and sick of the unending rivalry between the football and soccer team that is now approaching a decade. But it has recently been ramping up and interfering with her romantic relationship with Randy. Randy has been dedicating much of his time working on the rivalry and their relationship is suffering while many people are also getting hurt in the process. Lissa decides that the best way to end the rivalry is for all the football and soccer player’s girlfriends to refuse to hookup. Lissa believes that this would get their boyfriend wound up enough that they would put aside their differences aside. But the boys fight back and it is now a battle of who will blink first and admit defeat. It is a great competitive rivalry and the antics the boys and girls come up with are sometimes hilarious. Even the singing of love ballads from the likes of N’sync was quite funny.
Kody Keplinger’s “A Midsummer’s Nightmare” is the fascinating story of Whitley Johnson whose life has sucked for a long time. All she now wants is a great summer with her father before she moves away to go to college. But then her father’s new fiancé and her two children come to visit and things become complicated. One of them had been her one-night stand on graduation night and all her plans for a great summer seem to be melting away. She does not think she is a good fit for the picture-perfect family her father is planning. Moreover, Whitley knows it will be too awkward having to deal with her stepbrother. With her summer already ruined, she does what she does best – party hard. She has never been afraid of partying herself into tricky situations but she is slow to realize that many people do not like that Whitley. The one people like is an optimistic and sweet girl and her stepbrother Nathan might play a huge role in getting her back.
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