Selene Castrovilla
ALLi Author Member
Location: United States of America
Genres: Children's Nonfiction, History, Mental Health, Contemporary Fiction, Experimental Fiction, Literary Fiction, Womens Fiction, Young Adult (YA)
Selene Castrovilla always knew she was a writer, but in elementary school, she never imagined she’d write about George Washington. He was so BORING! When she grew up and learned some decidedly UNBORING details about George Washington, her writing career began. Selene’s books depict humanity and what lies within our hearts, including George Washington’s. Her writing explores people: not only what they did, but how and why they did it. She loves researching American history and sharing its little-known moments of bravery, hope, and resilience with readers. And there's also the dark side of history. She finds treachery and treason equally compelling. What made Benedict Arnold tick? When we unpack human behavior in history, we're learning about human behavior today. What's in our hearts never changes. Selene also loves writing layered fiction, coming-of-age stories at any age, where people with seemingly insurmountable problems are forced to confront and deal with them. To Selene, discovering a story feels like winning the lottery, and setting off to tell it yields a soaring rush greater than any rollercoaster ride. Selene holds a B.A. in English from New York University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The New School. She lives in a purple house on a Long Island lagoon, where she raised her two sons. These days, she writes on her deck with a humongous dog named Bean by her side.
Selene Castrovilla's books
Genres: Young Adult (YA)
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
The tables are turned with a vengeance in this tour de force love story. Nearly a year has gone by and now it’s Dorothy who is fragmented and lost, while Joey keeps the promise he had made her to better himself—even though she’s gone. Joey talks about what is happening in the present while Dorothy describes what happened before— in the moments and hours after the Glock dropped. This time the stakes are even higher, as Joey forces himself to move forward while Dorothy is frozen in place. But when he learns of a devastating decision, Joey races to find her before it is too late. Truth, consequence, repercussion, and modern medicine collide as pieces converge in this psychological, thrilling story which begs the question: Can love really conquer all?
Genres: Young Adult (YA)
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
Winner of the IndieReader Discovery Award and the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Spark Award "A fresh, emotionally complex bildungsroman of young American love that looks long and hard at violence, and at what can overcome it."-Kirkus Reviews Set against the backdrop of The Wizard of Oz, this tale is both a chilling story of abuse and a timeless teen romance. Sixteen-year-old good girl Dorothy just blew into the small town of Highland Park—where the social headquarters is Munchkinland (Dunkin’ Donuts). There, she meets Joey—a bad boy who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home. He had the look of an animal caught in a trap. It was like he was caged inside that beautiful body, like he was asking me to carve deeper and set his soul free. Can these two lovers survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his alcoholism? And then...
Genres: Contemporary Fiction
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback
Age Groups: 18+
Winner of the Book Excellence Award for Chick Lit Life begins at thirty-eight for Long Island mom and writer Luna Lampanelli, when she kicks her secretly gay husband to the curb. She's got her freedom, but what she wants is love. Luna knows she doesn't need a man to exist, but try telling that to her heart. Against the advice of Sunny, her snarky best friend, and Jiminy, the cautioning voice in Luna's head who just won't shut up, Luna sets course to find a mate. Luna speed and on-line dates her way into several short-lived, surreal relationships. There's Ari, the humorless Israeli who refuses to assimilate – to America, and to humanity. There's Alex, the young and handsome ex-crackhead who informs Luna he doesn't want to be monogamous—while they're in bed. There's Memphis, the wild-eyed sadomasochist. There's Red, angry and crippled, who becomes the catalyst for Luna to join...