Amy Brecount White

Amy Brecount White writes fiction and nonfiction shaped by close attention to nature, place, and the meanings people attach to the living world. Her debut novel, Forget-Her-Nots, follows fourteen-year-old Laurel as she begins at the Avondale boarding school after losing her mother. Laurel's knowledge of Victorian flower lore develops into an unusual ability: bouquets can influence emotions, and her gift connects her to a family line of Flowerspeakers. Greenwillow Books published the teen fantasy in 2010. White grounds its magical premise in recognizable school friendships, grief, family history, and the practical details of plants. The result moves between contemporary boarding-school life and older traditions of communicating through flowers. Before becoming a novelist, White taught English and wrote articles and essays about family, travel, gardens, and sustainability. Forget-Her-Nots brings those interests together in a story where botanical knowledge is not decoration but the means through which Laurel understands responsibility, memory, and her own inheritance.