Another LDS author has had their debut YA novel published a national press.
Ann Dee Ellis. This is What I Did. Little, Brown. July 2007.

Ellis recently got an MA at BYU, and is currently teaching writing there.
The reviews for the novel have been spectacular. The comparison to Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time certainly perks up my interest.

Here are a couple of reviews:
Publishers Weekly (Starred Review): Part staccato prose, part transcript, this haunting first novel will grip readers right from the start. Fragmented scenes re-create, with grim authenticity, the almost claustrophobic perspective of the eighth-grade narrator, Logan, as he struggles to come to terms with his role in a despicable crime. "A year ago I was fine. That's when there was nothing wrong," Logan says early on. In relaying the action chiefly through Logan's terse observations and through script-like reproductions of dialogue, Ellis never veers from Logan's point of view. In this way, she infuses the narrative with his guilt over what happened, the details of which are revealed only in a climactic finale. At the same time, the narrator's frustration does not become the audience's, thanks to Ellis's skill in dramatizing his vulnerability. Readers will recognize themselves in Logan's difficulty overcoming his shame, even if the scale of his experiences is larger than their own, and sympathy as well as curiosity about his circumstances will drive them forward. Logan's progress is slow-but realistically so-and brings with it an almost cathartic relief for the audience. Plaudits go to the art department, too: a particularly attractive book design incorporates small drawings between each segment of text. Ages 12-up. (July)

School Library Journal: Something terrible happened last year involving Logan, his friend Zyler, Zyler's physically abusive father, and a girl named Cami. Logan's parents moved the family to a new neighborhood to try and offer Logan a fresh start. But it is not working. The repercussions have followed the eighth grader. He tries to be invisible, but he is tormented by kids in his class, who know something happened, but not what; by his scout troop (including the adult leader); and by his jock younger brothers. Still, Logan does not completely withdraw from the world. He builds sets for the school play, lands a small role in it, and starts an odd, palindrome-filled friendship with a girl. Through his thoughts, memories, brief bits of dialogue, and visits with a psychiatrist, Logan’s past is slowly unveiled. This novel is reminiscent of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Doubleday, 2003) both in its layout and in the emotional flatness of the narrator. Readers are in the protagonist’s head, which, since he has been severely traumatized, is not always a pleasant place to be. But Logan is doing the best he can and is very likable. The odd layout – no chapters, only small sections that cover a thought or a moment in time – is a stylistic touch that could have come across as gimmicky, but instead tells the story in an inventive way. This is an intense, well-told story that will make readers think hard about how they would handle rough situations in their lives. Expect it to generate a lot of questions and discussion. – Geri Diorio, The Ridgefield Library, CT

Liz Condie, a Mormon author, wrote this:
When Logan auditions for the school play, he sings "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" and wonders if that's okay, if you can sing about God at school. Logan also describes a character as saying "freaking," then adds that the character really didn't say that--he used the stronger term. But the word is never said. For me, this was the perfect compromise. She didn't de-Mormon her character; nor did his Mormonism usurp the story or distract from it. She was mindful of both her culture (and that of her characters) and of her national audience.

Andrew Hall