About
Chris Cander is the USA Today-bestselling author of A GRACIOUS NEIGHBOR, THE WEIGHT OF A PIANO, which was named an Indie Next Great Read in both hardcover and paperback and which the New York Times called, "immense, intense and imaginative,” WHISPER HOLLOW, also named an Indie Next Great Read, and 11 STORIES, named by Kirkus as one of the best books of 2013 and winner of the Independent Publisher Book Awards for fiction. She also wrote the children’s picture book THE WORD BURGLAR, and the Audible Originals “Eddies” and “Grieving Conversations.” Her new novel is THE YOUNG OF OTHER ANIMALS, out now. Cander’s fiction has been published in twelve languages. For seven years, she served as a writer-in-residence for Houston-based Writers in The Schools, teaching creative writing to children. A passionate advocate for the literary arts, she serves on the Inprint Houston advisory board and stewards several Little Free Libraries in her community. A former fitness competitor and model, she currently holds a 4th dan in taekwondo and is a certified women’s defensive tactics instructor. She lives in Houston with her husband and two young adult children.
Featured Work
THE YOUNG OF OTHER ANIMALS
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Mayree and Paula are a mother and daughter drifting apart, separated by grief and more, after the death of Mayree’s husband.
Mayree faces a future with no income, career, or social life. Even ties with her best friend have been severed. Paula, feeling abandoned by the father she loved, is left with only a bitter mother. When Paula reveals that she narrowly escaped a violent assault, Mayree’s initial reaction is dismissal and disbelief. But as details unfold, it’s clear that it was real and not just one random night gone horribly wrong—someone is out to destroy their lives.
With each new threat from Paula’s assailant, harrowing family secrets reemerge that force the mother and daughter to confront the shared traumas of their pasts. Drawing on courage and hope, they must save the relationship they never realized they’d lost.
Reflective, suspenseful, and moving, The Young of Other Animals explores the psychic intergenerational damages that can alter relationships with loved ones forever.
Other Works
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A GRACIOUS NEIGHBOR
2022
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THE WEIGHT OF A PIANO
2019
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SPELLBOUND: THE ART OF TEACHING POETRY
2019
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WHISPER HOLLOW
2015
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THE WORD BURGLAR
2013
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11 STORIES
2013
Awards and Recognition
- • USA Today bestseller • Finalist, Texas Author Project Awards, 2019 • Longlist, SIBA Great Santini Fiction Prize, 2016 • Shortlist, Half the World Global Literati Award Top 40, 2016 • Gold Medal, Popular Fiction, Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), 2014 • Finalist, General Fiction, USA Best Book Awards, 2014 • Book of the Month, (AiA), January 2014 • Silver Medal, Popular Fiction, eLit Awards, 2014 • Silver Medal, Reading Skills and Literacy, Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, 2014 • Semi-finalist, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, 2013 • Quarter Finalist for Best Family Screenplay, PAGE Int’l Screenwriting Awards, 2013 • Kirkus Reviews Best Indie General Fiction 2013