Books with author Lydia M. Anderson

National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization.When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth—but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the vuvv generously offered free advanced technology and cures for every illness imaginable? As it turns out, yes. With his parents’ jobs replaced by alien tech and no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv’s miraculous medicine, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have to get creative to survive. And since the vuvv crave anything they deem classic Earth culture (doo-wop music, still life paintings of fruit, true love), recording 1950s-style dates for the vuvv to watch in a pay-per-minute format seems like a brilliant idea. But it’s hard for Adam and Chloe to sell true love when they hate each other more with every passing episode. Soon enough, Adam must decide how far he’s willing to go—and what he’s willing to sacrifice—to give the vuvv what they want.

M.T. Anderson, author of the award-winning THIRSTY, cooks up a story of love and betrayal, with a side order of revenge—and serves it all with comedic relish.Anthony has never been able to stand up for himself—that is, not until his girlfriend, Diana, is in someone else's arms. Then Anthony vows revenge and devises The Plan. It begins with getting a job at the fast-food restaurant where Turner (a.k.a. the guy who stole his girlfriend) happens to be a star employee. But when The Plan is finally assembled in this hilarious novel that PUBLISHERS WEEKELY called "both a tasty treat and a stinging satire," will Anthony's hunger for revenge be satisfied? And more important, will he prove he's not a wuss?

A 2016 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults FinalistNational Book Award winner M. T. Anderson delivers a brilliant and riveting account of the Siege of Leningrad and the role played by Russian composer Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony.In September 1941, Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history—almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943–1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm; they ate family pets and—eventually—one another to stay alive. Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens—the Leningrad Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory.This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power—and layered meaning—of music in beleaguered lives. Symphony for the City of the Dead is a masterwork thrillingly told and impeccably researched by National Book Award–winning author M. T. Anderson.

Natalie, a self-centered girl, is dragged away by her family at the worst possible time. Damien, a juvenile delinquent condemned as an accessory to murder. Connor, an angry young man unable to get over the death of his father. Three teenagers from different backgrounds, each suffering pain and loss, must now find strength, responsibility and heroism they didn’t know they possessed when the worst disaster in American history, a 9.7 earthquake, devastates the Pacific Northwest. Their struggle for survival will not only test their resolve; it will affect the lives of everyone around them. Can they let go of their own personal issues and look beyond themselves before a massive tsunami destroys them all?