Books with author Mattie A. Burns

Kevin’s acne is horribly, hideously bad. Can a risky treatment fix his face — and his entire life? A witty and sharply observed debut.Fifteen-year-old Kevin has acne, and not just any acne. Stinging red welts, painful pustules, and massive whiteheads are ruining his life. In an act of desperation, he asks his dermatologist to prescribe him a drug with a dizzying list of possible side effects — including depression — and an obligatory monthly blood test. But when he meets Alex, a girl in the lab waiting room, blood test day quickly becomes his safe haven — something he sorely needs, since everyone, including his two best friends, is trying his last nerve. But as Kevin’s friendships slip further away and he discovers who Alex is outside of the lab, he realizes he's not sure about anything anymore. Are loneliness and self-doubt the side effects of his new acne meds? Or are they the side effects of being fifteen? Told in a bitingly funny first-person narration, this debut novel crackles with wry and wistful insights about the absurdities of high school, longing and heartbreak, and a body out of control. A surefire hit for teen boys and reluctant readers, Smooth gets under the skin of a tenth-grader who is changing — inside and out.

Kevin’s acne is horribly, hideously bad. Can a risky treatment fix his face — and his entire life? A witty and sharply observed debut. Fifteen-year-old Kevin has acne, and not just any acne. Stinging red welts, painful pustules, and massive whiteheads are ruining his life. In an act of desperation, he asks his dermatologist to prescribe him a drug with a dizzying list of possible side effects — including depression — and an obligatory monthly blood test. But when he meets Alex, a girl in the lab waiting room, blood test day quickly becomes his safe haven — something he sorely needs, since everyone, including his two best friends, is trying his last nerve. But as Kevin’s friendships slip further away and he discovers who Alex is outside of the lab, he realizes he's not sure about anything anymore. Are loneliness and self-doubt the side effects of his new acne meds? Or are they the side effects of being fifteen? Told in a bitingly funny first-person narration, this debut novel crackles with wry and wistful insights about the absurdities of high school, longing and heartbreak, and a body out of control. A surefire hit for teen boys and reluctant readers, Smooth gets under the skin of a tenth-grader who is changing — inside and out.

When Lugh McNeal turns fifteen, his life turns upside down. Following an urgent call for help, he rescues a young cat from the river and discovers a family secret he never suspected. The McNeals are magical. Now, with his new familiar Bran, his cousin Abby, and their friend Wyn, Lugh must figure out how magic works before the forces that seek to destroy them can get the upper hand. When Abby and Wyn are kidnapped by the dark Magus, Lugh and Bran rush to find them, but have they learned enough to walk the magical paths?

Chance Latrans was just your average teenager until, on his fifteenth birthday, while camping in the mountains of New Mexico, his family is attacked by a beast under the light of a full moon. Chance finds himself surrounded by strange people only to find out that the beast that killed his family was a werecoyote, and he has been bitten. Embarking on a journey into a nightmare world of magic and wonder, he finds himself changing in ways he could never imagine. Can he find a place for himself in this new world with creatures he’d never imagined really existed, or will it all be torn away from him by the monster that took away his normal life?

A Harmony Ink Press Young Adult Title The Woodmen Chronicles: Book Two Thom Woodman is a bigfoot, although he prefers to be called an Oh Mah. When it comes time for the Oh Mah biannual gathering, he's excited to go with Ben Steele, the human he bonded with. To Thom's surprise, he is offered a place among the Guardians, the leaders of the Oh Mah. But since he grew up half in the human world, he can't make a decision before he finds out more about these Guardians. When an Oh Mah is killed by a human, the growing antihuman sentiment runs rampant through the gathering. Thom's family swears to help protect Ben, but when some of the Guardians join the anti-human faction, they aren't sure they can live up to their promise. Even when Ben is kidnapped, Thom doesn't know what to say when the Guardians demand his answer. Thom feels like he's not only being forced to choose between the Oh Mah and the human world, but also between a life with or without Ben.

Dillon Smith is so ready for the school year to be over, because he’ll get some relief from the gang that’s been pressuring him to join them. Unfortunately, when he stops for a soda, he’s implicated in the gang robbing a convenience store. Given his late father’s association with the gang, even his mother doesn’t believe him when he says he wants no part of it, and she sends him to live with his Uncle Bryan for the summer. On the way to his uncle’s house in the country, he and Bryan rescue a hawk that was hit by a semitruck. They take it to some wildlife rehabbers living down the street, and they help open Dillon to experiences he never imagined. When Dillon meets Scott, the son of the rehabbers, he falls in love, but the gang has a rough summer planned for him.

The Woodmen Chronicles: Book OneBigfoot hunters prowl the forests of Cripple Creek, Colorado. That doesn't sit well with Thom Woodmen—a Bigfoot—albeit the runt of his family. Being the smallest has advantages; Thom, in disguise, gets to attend high school, and he’s not expected to accomplish much in life. All that changes when he comes across a distressed human in the forest. Ben Steele is new to Cripple Creek High School, and after a harrowing experience in the woods near his new home, he quickly falls in with Thom Woodmen and his circle of friends. So what if they like to hang out with nature? Ben’s got nothing better to do. Trouble is, Ben can't seem to stay out of it—trouble, that is. However, in saving young Ben's life, Thom inadvertently kick-starts a bonding process that’ll change both their lives forever. With the support of family and friends, Thom learns to accept bonding with the human boy. But with the danger overrunning Cripple Creek lately, Thom may be cut down before he can confess his secret and his love.

Lugh's mother packed up and moved them from sunny Florida to tiny Steamboat Springs, Colorado after his father's accidental drowning. Resigned to his mom having to work a lot, and only just beginning to deal with his dad's death, Lugh is disappointed when she is called in to work on his fifteenth birthday. After an unnerving dream, he decides to head to the nearby river where he ends up following a strange, urgent, internal pull. When another boy helps him rescue a young cat from the river, Lugh discovers a family secret he never suspected. Now, with his new cousin Abby and their friend Wyn, Lugh must figure out the rules of his new life before the forces that seek to destroy them can get the upper hand.

The Woodmen Chronicles: Book TwoThom Woodmen is a bigfoot, although he prefers to be called an Oh-Mah. When it comes time for the Oh-Mah biannual gathering, he’s excited to go with Ben Steele, the human he bonded with. To Thom’s surprise, he is offered a place among the Guardians, the leaders of the Oh-Mah. But since he grew up half in the human world, he can’t make a decision before he finds out more about these Guardians. When an Oh-Mah is killed by a human, the growing anti-human sentiment runs rampant through the gathering. Thom’s family swears to help protect Ben, but when some of the Guardians join the anti-human faction, they aren’t sure they can live up to their promise. Even when Ben is kidnapped, Thom doesn’t know what to say when the Guardians demand his answer. Thom feels like he’s not only being forced to choose between the Oh-Mah and the human world, but also between a life with or without Ben.

Halloween is fast approaching in Steamboat springs Colorado. Lugh McNeal is adjusting to a life away from the beaches of Florida. It's not an easy time, but his new family and boyfriend make things easier. When a spirit mistakes him for his father, Lugh scrambles to understand how the spirit found him, and what she means to him and his new life. With his boyfriend Wyn, his familiar Bran, and his cousin Abby at his side, Lugh does his best at surviving the dark magic that is welling up against them. The balance of power between the light and the dark is tipping toward the dark, can Lugh and his friends prove strong enough to overcome the darkness before it swallows them whole?

The Woodmen Chronicles: Book ThreeThom Woodmen, a bigfoot or Oh Mah, who lives in a human world, is bonded to Ben Steele, an average teenager. Thom has barely adjusted to his new status as a Guardian when he discovers others working against him and there's a price on his head. Then an intruder appears in his family’s territory, and he senses strange energies coming from Ben. While they struggle to find out who wants Thom dead, Ben is tested to confirm Thom’s suspicions—Ben has magic. Ben shows promise, but he just wants to stay the normal human within their group of friends. After more attacks, Ben begins to see how magic might help him protect Thom—if only he can learn enough before the witch who is hunting them closes in for the kill.