Tucker Reed

Tucker Reed
Born Aisling Tucker Moore Reed
October 15, 1989
Palo Alto, California
Occupation Novelist, Blogger, Student
Nationality American
Genre Gothic horror,
time travel,
alternate history
Notable works Amber House (2012),
Neverwas (2014)

Tucker Reed is an American author best known for her civil rights activism. Reed co-authored the young adult novel Amber House published in October 2012 and its sequel Neverwas, released internationally in January 2014.[1]

Early life

Aisling Tucker Moore Reed, called Tucker, was born in Los Gatos, California. Reed is the daughter of New York Times best-selling authors Kelly Moore and Dan Reed.[2] Through her maternal grandfather, she claims descent from Jamestown settler and Mayflower Compact signer Stephen Hopkins.[3]

As a teenager, Reed gigged with an alternative rock band as a singer-songwriter,[4] and played leading roles in community musical theatre productions.[5] She also served as a reporter, web designer and editor-in-chief for her high school's newspaper, The Rogue News. Reed went on to be recognized on the national level for her essays and short stories during her junior and senior years at Ashland High School.[6][7][8]

In 2009, Reed persuaded her mother to collaborate on a novel. Reed’s sister Larkin was later included in the collaboration as well. In 2011, the trio negotiated and received a six-figure financial deal with the Arthur A. Levine imprint of Scholastic Press for the North American rights to their planned Amber House Trilogy.[9]

Reed studied theatre and cinema at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. She also served as a reporter and assistant editor for the university's student newspaper, the Daily Trojan, in 2010.[10]

Written works

Reed, along with her mother and younger sister Larkin, co-authored Amber House, the first installment of the Amber House trilogy, which was released by Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine Books imprint on October 1, 2012.[1][11][12][13] Amber House received a positive critical reception, with Publishers Weekly praising the book's "intricate plot" and originality in a starred review, dubbing the story "rich, strange, and utterly fascinating."[14] Kirkus Reviews singled out the book's heroine as being a "strong, admirable character" for young female readers, specifically contrasting her with Bella Swan from the Twilight franchise.[15] Amber House was a finalist for the 2014 Oregon Book Award for Young Adult Literature, and was selected for the Texas Library Association's 2014 TAYSHAS List.[16][17] Reed acted as narrator of the audiobook edition of Amber House and its sequel Neverwas, which was released on January 7, 2014.[18][19] Reed is also co-author of the series' forthcoming title Otherwhen.[20]

Activism and self-advocacy

As an activist, Reed helped to organize college students in support of women's rights and to raise public awareness about the issue of gendered violence, appearing on CNN, CBS, NBC, HuffPost Live and other news programs.[21][22][23][24][25] Reed founded the Student Coalition Against Rape (SCAR), originally a sub-org at the University of Southern California and now a national organization.[26]

In 2013, Reed aided students at multiple institutions in filing Office for Civil Rights complaints against their colleges.[24][27] In September 2013, Reed was recognized for her activism by the Veteran Feminists of America when she was awarded the Lucy Burns "Challenger" award at the organization's 20th anniversary celebration. Reed received her honor alongside feminist icons such as attorney Gloria Allred, singer-songwriter June Millington and Grammy Award-winner Helen Reddy.

Also in September 2013, Reed spoke out as a proponent of "mandatory exit surveys" at college campuses, designed to better monitor the efficacy of policies and programs regarding student safety. Such surveys would, according to Reed, prevent internal corruption and dismissal of valid student claims because they would create an external reference monitoring whether colleges remain in compliance with the Clery Act and their own safety policies.[28]

Since late 2012, Reed has authored a blog for victims of acquaintance and intimate partner rape. She has also blogged for Jane Pratt's xoJane.com and the Huffington Post, and written for Cosmopolitan magazine.[29][30]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Amber House". ArthurALevineBooks.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  2. ↑ "Amber House". Scholastic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  3. ↑ "The Complex Mysteries of Kelly Moore's Amber House". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  4. ↑ "Taking center stage". 2006-04-25. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  5. ↑ "Off to see the wizard". 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
  6. ↑ "Contributor". Scholastic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  7. ↑ "About the Authors". TheAmberHouseTrilogy.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  8. ↑ "Oregon Council Of Teachers of English Spring 2008 Language Arts & Reading Conference". OCTE.org. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  9. ↑ "Deals: Week of October 10, 2011, Arthur Levine Gets Mother-Daughter Ghost Story". 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
  10. ↑ "USC has no problems with gender balance". 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  11. ↑ "Amber House". Kirkus.com. 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  12. ↑ "Amber House, starred review". PublishersWeekly.com. 2010-10-08. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  13. ↑ Leila Roy (2002-10-11). "The complex mysteries of Kelly Moore's 'Amber House'". Kirkus.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  14. ↑ Publishers Weekly. 6 Oct 2012
  15. ↑ "A deliciously creepy beginning to a projected trilogy.". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  16. ↑ "Oregon Book Awards Finalists and Fellowship Recipients Announced". Literary-Arts.org. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  17. ↑ "2014 TAYSHAS List". TXLA.org. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  18. ↑ "Amber House Audiobook". Audible.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  19. ↑ "Neverwas Audiobook". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  20. ↑ "Neverwas (Book #2, The Amber House Trilogy)". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  21. ↑ "Ed Department Investigating USC". 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  22. ↑ "USC students protest school's handling of rape allegations". 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  23. ↑ "Lifting the Veil On College Sex Assault". 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Sara Lipka (2013-07-16). "Protesters Call for Stricter Sanctions on Colleges That Mishandle Sexual Assault". Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  25. ↑ Kayla Webley (2013-10-16). "Big Shame On Campus". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  26. ↑ Brianna Sacks (2010-05-13). "Students protest University's handling of Tucker Reed case". Neon Tommy-USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  27. ↑ Claire Groden (2013-08-08). "Campus Rape Victims Find a Voice". TIME magazine. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  28. ↑ Russell Westerholm (2013-09-24). "USC Sexual Assault Victim Proposes Schools Issue Student Survey to See How Well Crime Policies Work". University Herald. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  29. ↑ Tucker Reed (2014-04-11). "To Shed Light on Campus Rape, Let's Make Every College Issue These Surveys". Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  30. ↑ Tucker Reed (2014-08-13). "I Spoke Out About Being Raped and Sparked a Movement at My College". Retrieved 2014-08-16.