Happy Thursday, friends! Today I’m thrilled to have partnered with my friends at Candlewick in order to host the exclusive cover reveal for author Shannon Takaoka’s sophomore young adult novel, The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne! I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview Shannon about her debut, Everything I Thought I Knew, back in 2020 and I’ve been looking forward to her next book ever since. I feel so lucky to be able to help celebrate its upcoming release here and cover reveal today, especially because Matt Roeser’s design is every bit as intriguing as The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne‘s synopsis!
About Shannon Takaoka
Shannon Takaoka is the author of the young adult novel Everything I Thought I Knew, which was a 2021 Kansas National Education Association Reading Circle Recommended Title and a 2022 TAYSHAS Reading List Selection. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family, where she also works as a business writer and editor.
Cover design by Matt Roeser
Title The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne
Authors Shannon Takaoka
Target Audience Young Adult
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Candlewick
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● The Book Depository ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
It’s 1987, and sixteen-year-old Gracie Byrne wishes her life were totally different. Shy and awkward, she has trouble fitting in at her new school, she’s still reeling from her parents’ divorce, and her grandmother Katherine’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse.
So when Gracie finds a blank journal in Katherine’s vanity drawer, she begins writing stories about herself — a more popular version of herself, that is. But then the hot guy in her art class describes a dream he had about her—the exact scene she wrote about him in her journal — and Gracie realizes that she can create any reality she wants, from acing tests to winning the attention of her previously indifferent classmates.
As her ability to change what is into what she wishes it to be grows stronger, though, Gracie starts to second-guess what’s real — especially when it comes to a budding relationship with her cute neighbor, Tom. This compelling story deftly blends friendship, family, and romance…and bends the bounds of reality itself.
