Lisa Fipps Books In Order

Publication Order of Children's Books

Lisa Fipps is a reputed American novelist of middle-grade, realistic fiction, contemporary, and juvenile stories. She is particularly popular for writing her debut book called Starfish. The book is widely successful and is well known for its excellent depiction of characters and plot. Before beginning her career in the field of publishing, Fipps worked as a journalist. She has won several awards for her dedicated work in the field of journalism. Currently, she is working as a public library’s marketing director. For this role, she has already won the Sara Lauhglin award. As of today, Fipps resides in Indiana and has also resided in Texas before. She is a great lover of dogs and loves to be around them in her free time.

Author Fipps loves to learn about different kinds of things. She has the curiosity to know about the lives of other people and their way of living in other countries and states. For this purpose, she has traveled to a number of different countries, including Switzerland, Spain, England, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, etc. In the US, Fipps has visited as many as nineteen states and wishes to visit all the remaining ones. During her spare time, she enjoys watching movies and TV shows. Her interest lies in watching movies in foreign languages with subtitles. The languages that she admires the most to watch movies in include Hindi and Spanish. Author Fipps is also an ardent lover of the arts.

While growing up, she used to think of becoming an artist. But, because her art teacher did not impress her much, she ended up quitting art and instead went for creative writing. There was a boy in her class at that time that she had a crush on. He used to praise her writing skills and motivate her to keep doing it. Overjoyed with such praising comments from the person she liked very much, Fipps’ determination grew multiple folds and it helped to change her life forever. Author Fipps claims that her taste in music is quite eclectic. That is why she likes to listen to any kind of music that feels good to her ears. Her playlist includes everything from hip hop, pop, classical to rock, country, Hindi, and Latin.

Very often, Fipps chooses her songs based on their beat or lyrics. Sometimes, it is her mood that makes her listen to a specific song in repeat mode. While developing a story or a character, Fipps listens to songs that she thinks her characters in the books would like. Author Fipps also has the habit of collecting rocks. Whenever she visits a place, she makes sure to find an interesting rock, bring it home, and put it in the jars where she keeps all others. Looking at the rocks reminds her of the time she traveled to a particular place and the memories of that place come flashing in front of her eyes. Just the way Fipps has likes, she also has some dislikes. The things that creep her out are insects and snakes. Fipps does not like ants, grasshoppers, crickets, and spiders.

Fipps has had bad experiences with all these insects in her childhood and so, she has developed a dislike for them. She likes to keep things in alphabetical order and it helps her to save time whenever she tries to find something. This includes the things in her kitchen and bookshelves. However, Fipps hates to fold her clothes and hang them in the wardrobe. She considers herself quite lazy in that department. But, she has to do it anyway when she is shouted upon by her family members. Fipps hopes that one of her middle-grade readers just grows up and invents a device that would allow clothes to fold and pack themselves automatically.

As an author, Fipps likes to give out all these facts about herself to her audience with the intention of connecting with them in a better way. Fipps thinks that once she is able to set a better connection with her fans, she will find it easy to make them understand her point of view. This way, they will understand her stories and love them. Fipps feels blessed to have developed the talent of creating stories and entertaining people all over the world. She intends to continue doing it for many more years to come. Fipps hopes to get the support and love of her dedicated readers just like they have given to her debut book. This way, she can fulfill her desire of establishing herself among the noteworthy authors of her generation.

The debut book written by author Lisa Fipps is entitled ‘Starfish’. It was released by the Penguin publication in March 2021. The primary characters created by Fipps for this book include Ellie, Catalina, Ellie’s parents, and her therapist. This book revolves around the life of Ellie, who is a fat girl and is tired of being teased for being overweight. When the fat-shaming does not stop, she ends up doing something that changes her life forever. Initially, it is mentioned that the first time Ellie faced bullying at the hands of her friends was on the day of her 5th day. She wore a swimsuit and jumped into the pool with the intention of enjoying her big day. But, her friends and every other kid present at her house that day laughed at her as soon as she made the splash. Since that day, the bullying has never stopped.

Over time, Ellie becomes so much embarrassed with herself that she makes some rules on her own to cope with the bullying. She calls these rules the Fat Girl Rules. Some of the rules that she follows consciously include not making waves, avoiding eating in the open outside, and not making fast so as to avoid the shaking of the body fat. Also, Ellie comes up with a safe space for herself where she does not have to worry about being overweight, that is, her swimming pool. Whenever Ellie enters the swimming pool, she feels quite weightless in the world obsessed with fat people. Ellie is able to stretch herself in the form of a starfish. It also allows her to take up how much ever space she wants.

The swimming pool is also the place where Ellie can keep herself away from her nagging and pushy mother. Her mother thinks that the only way she can motivate her to follow a strict diet is by criticizing her, which Ellie does not like at all. To find some relief from her pressurizing mom, Ellie takes shelter in her therapist, her newly arrived neighbor named Catalina, and her father. Catalina seems to appreciate Ellie for what she is and doesn’t judge her like others based on her appearance. As time goes by, Ellie begins to feel that the support from these people is helping her to overcome the stress of being overweight. She starts hoping to give up the Fat Girls Rules and remain a starfish in the real sense. Finally, Ellie decides to be herself and remain unapologetic for appearing different from most others.