Fleur Philips is an award-winning author who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Montana. Her first novel, I Am Lucky Bird, was selected as a General Fiction Finalist for the 2011 Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Reviews. Her current novel, Crumble, was named Young Adult Winner from the 2013 San Francisco Book Festival and was selected as a Young Adult Fiction Finalist by the 2013 International Book Awards. She lives in Whitefish, Montana, and when she’s not writing, she’s cheering for her son in his athletic endeavors.

Seventeen-year-old Melanie Kennicut is beautiful. Her entire life revolves around this beauty because her overly controlling mother has been dragging her to casting calls and auditions since she was four years old. According to Joanne Kennicut, Melanie was born to follow in her footsteps. But Melanie never wanted this life.

When a freak car accident leaves her with facial lacerations that will require plastic surgery, she can’t help but wonder if this is the answer to her prayers. For the first time in her life, she has a chance to live like a normal teenager—at least for a little while—away from the photo shoots and movie sets that have dominated her entire existence. But after Melanie allows her best friend to come to the house to see her, Joanne decides to hide her daughter in Montana for the remainder of the summer. There, Melanie won’t be seen by anyone they know, and her face will heal in time for the scheduled surgery in late August.

Joanne’s plan backfires, however, when Melanie meets Sam, a Native American boy hired by the home’s owner to tend to the property. Sam is nothing like the Hollywood boys Melanie knows—he’s poor, his father’s a drunk who possesses a bizarre gift inherited from a Kootenai Shaman, and his only brother disappeared into the mountains after the death of their mother eight years before. What transpires over a mere 36 hours after Sam and Melanie meet changes both of their lives in ways they never thought possible.

A modern tale of forbidden love…

Eighteen-year-old Sarah McKnight has a secret. She’s in love with David Brooks. Sarah is white. David is black.

But Sarah’s not the only one keeping secrets in the close-knit community of Kalispell, Montana. Her father George, who owns a local gun shop and proudly drives a truck with a Confederate flag bumper sticker, hides his own complicated past. When he discovers Sarah’s relationship, George decides to share his feelings with Alex Mackey—a lonely classmate of Sarah’s whom George has taken under his wing. As Alex embraces the power of George’s dark hatred, the hopes and dreams of young lives hang in the balance.

In just a few short months, Sarah and David will graduate from high school and leave Kalispell for a new life together in Los Angeles. Maybe in California, they can stop hiding their love—and the other secret they share…something George McKnight—and Alex Mackey—will never accept.

Accolades for Crumble:

• 2013 YA Fiction Finalist, USA Best Book Awards from USA Book News
• Silver Medalist in the category of Young Adult, Mature Issues in the 2013 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards
• 2013 San Francisco Book Festival Winner, YA Fiction
• 2013 International Book Awards, YA Fiction Finalist

When her mother mysteriously vanishes from the small town of Plains, Montana, 12-year-old Lucky Bird’s childhood comes to an abrupt end. Left to defend herself against her suddenly abusive grandmother, Marian, and forced to endure the twisted predatory games played out by Marian’s lover, Lucky soon finds herself trapped in a nightmare.

Even when she manages to escape, the outside world can’t take away the brutal images of her past. Still haunted by her mother’s disappearance and the trauma that followed, Lucky is easily led down a path of self-destruction—a path that only the intervention of a young stranger and his family can guide her away from. But first, Lucky will have to confront her demons, and the dark truths kept hidden.

Accolades for I Am Lucky Bird:

• 2011 ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award Finalist, General Fiction