Amanda911 - by Mark Schreiber (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Sixteen-year-old Amanda Dizon is an ordinary girl in an ordinary town in Iowa. But when she falls into an abandoned well in her backyard during presidential primary campaign season, the national media post the story, the candidates visit her in the hospital, and she becomes a star on the new social media platform, PingPong."--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

YA Crossover. What's it like to be a teen influencer? Sixteen-year-old Amanda Dizon is an ordinary girl in an ordinary town in Iowa. But when she falls into an abandoned well in her backyard during presidential primary campaign season, the national media post the story, the candidates visit her in the hospital, and she becomes a star on the new social media platform, PingPong.

Amanda911 is a story for our time, about an occupation that didn't exist a few years ago, but which millions now aspire to. It's a funny, fast-paced journey through the contemporary digital landscape that is the influencer phenomenon.

Review Quotes

"While directed to a teen audience, Amanda911 will appeal to adult readers, as well. Its rollicking, sassy tone and special brand of family and social engagement is refreshingly original in voice, playful and spunky in life approach, and powered by underlying realistic inspections of society and culture that will leave readers thinking and laughing. Amanda911 is highly recommended as a delectably unique read in a sea of the ordinary, standing out for its social inspections and relationship ironies alike." -Diane, Donovan, Midwest Book Review, chosen for Donovan's August 2021 pick of the month

"A young woman becomes a viral celebrity after falling into a well in this darkly comic novel." -Kirkus

"Sixteen-year-old Iowa schoolgirl Amanda Dizon may be the nation's most unremarkable teenager until she falls down a well and finds herself instantaneously transformed from irrelevant to influencer. Mark Schreiber's sly, rollicking masterpiece, Amanda911, follows Amanda's escapades and sends up the craven, fame-obsessed virtual culture of today's adolescents. As insightful as Dickens and as innovative as Heller, Schreiber is the definitive satirist of the social media generation." -Jacob M. Appel, author of Einstein's Beach House

"A riotous take on the randomness of who becomes an influencer in our modern era. A wild ride for young and old alike!" -Galya Gerstman, author of Texting Olivia

"Mark Schrieber offers a delightful tale of an adolescent girl suddenly thrust into fame as an internet influencer. Amanda911 is a must-read in the contemporary era!" -Kay Sloan, author of The Patron Saint of Red Chevys

"Mark Schreiber captures both the joyful silliness of American youth and the grim silliness of American culture." -Darryl Ponicsán, author and screen writer for The Last Detail, Cinderella Liberty, Last Flag Flying

"Amanda911 is probably the funniest portrayal of influencer culture I've ever read. It's honest, down to earth, heartbreaking, but oh so funny at the same time!" -Pauline Harris Editorial

Praise for Princes in Exile

"I enjoyed and admired Princes in Exile, and was glad to learn that this unusual and excellent novel eventually had the success it deserves." -Alison Lurie, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"...a film that views its afflicted characters with a clear-eyed understanding and affection."

-Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"Remarkable." -Northrop Frye

Praise for Starcrossed

"Readers...are bound to enjoy Schreiber's edgy spin on Romeo and Juliet." -Library Journal

A 2008 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers list nominee

Praise for Dreams of the Solo Trapeze: Offstage With the Cirque du Soleil

"Schreiber provides a wealth of perceptive portraits, but his eloquent evocation of Sidorova is the heart and soul of this account." -Publishers Weekly