Anica Mrose Rissi

@anicarissi.bsky.social

2114 Followers 1352 Following

Author of books for kids & teens · Fan of dogs & ice cream · Faculty at VCFA WCYA Most recent book: GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE (2026) ⭐️ "Breathless, mesmerizing." --Kirkus, starred review https://anicarissi.com/ https://thisistheeavesdrop.com/

No Fences Review logo Owen Lake & the Tragic Loves – “Over You” (from Bury Deep My Heart, 2026) When not dressed up like a midcentury country & western star, Owen Lake goes by the title Dr. Jeffrey Snyder, Director of Electronic Music in the Department of Music at Princeton University. These roles might suggest some seriously conflicting skill sets. But the wonder of Snyder’s work on Bury Deep My Heart, his third album in Tragic Loves mode over the last couple decades, is how warmly his drum programs, synth bass lines and bespoke gadgets such as the “Electrosteel” compliment his country melodies and themes, as well as the traditional color instruments like fiddle and pedal steel that he also uses. What I feared would be some sort of sneering art-project novelty is, in other words, a damn good country album. The more I listen, the more I like everything here, but a couple of standouts include the Outlaw-on-the-dancefloor title track and a country duet called “Let’s Go Back” (Not important, but… Its electronic pulse combined with its dinosaur-themed video gave me not unpleasant flashbacks to David Van Teighem’s These Things Happen!) I think my favorite cut here is “Over You,” which rolls along like Human League gone country. In a voice that’s not twangy in the least but still plenty lonesome, Owen Lake calls up his ex, Evaleen, to inform her he’s finally over her. Sounds suspicious to me. Evaleen will be forgiven if she thinks he still cares. – DC (Thanks to Phil Overeem for the heads up) Embedded YouTube link for Over You.
Owen Lake and The Tragic Loves – “Wrong About Worse” Bury Deep My Heart Contemporary country has never immersed itself in tradition the way it does when Owen Lake and The Tragic Loves step into a recording booth, and their anticipated debut did not disappoint. Bury Deep My Heart pays a twangy homage to the past without directly mimicking it, as Lake and his band spin hypnotic twang into moving anthems for the heart to march to. “Wrong About Worse” throws caution to the wind with harmonies that flourish and lyrics that detail possible regret.
Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves Bury Deep My Heart record release show Gallery 198 198 24th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232 Thursday, July 23 7pm (doors open at 6) Concert poster includes the Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves logo, the cover of the new album (art and design by Angela Guyton), and a photo of Owen Lake in a red suit with a sequined string tie and a pompadour, holding a Snyderphonics treble contravielle (custom electronic instrument).
Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves' record Bury Deep My Heart, on top of a Snyderphonics Electrosteel. Art and design by Angela Guyton.
Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves Record Release Show Gallery 198 Brooklyn, NY July 23 7pm (doors at 6) Album cover (art and design by Angela Guyton) Photo of Owen Lake holding an instrument he invented.
Author selfies with the paperback edition of the book and a very good dog who is not supposed to lick his person's face.
Zachariah OHora and Anica Mrose Rissi, grinning at a book festival that happened when they were babies (2018-ish).
Left side of an interior spread from The Teacher's Pet, written by Anica Mrose Rissi, illustrated by Zachariah OHora. Text: "Our teacher was right. Bruno grew and grew. and grew. And grew." Art: The Mr. Rogers-like teacher at the front of the classroom, using an enormous hippo's side as a chalkboard. The kids in the foreground look appropriately alarmed.
Praise for The Teacher's Pet "Very funny....Cut from Amelia Bedelia's cloth." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "Wonderful and whimsical....Irresistible illustrations....There's nothing average about this madcap classroom adventure." --BookPage "Highly recommended. Perfect for classroom read-alouds and lessons on problem-solving or pets." --School Library Journal "Rissi, with her edge-of-grossout humor, and OHora, with his giant-headed, candy-colored people, have over-the-top sensibilities that mesh fantastically." --The New York Times Book Review.
Open-mouthed selfie of the author with the book.
A very good dog lying on the kitchen floor with the new Owen Lake record in front of him.
Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves' Bury Deep My Heart resting on a pedal steel, with a good dog sitting behind it.
Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves record Bury Deep My Heart resting on top of a Snyderphonics Electrosteel. The cover art is an oil painting of Owen Lake staring wistfully in partial profile. He's wearing a western suit with custom circuit board embroidery and a western tie. Also on the cover: Band logo, album title, list of songs.
A The Teacher's Pet library event in Stonington, Maine in 2017, with the author and readers showing off their best hippo faces (wide open mouths).
A small kid dressed up as Mr. Stricter, the teacher from The Teacher's Pet, sitting on a wooden chair on a parade float. An enormous cardboard hippo (Bruno, the class pet) looms behind him.
Selfie of the author holding the two editions of THE TEACHER'S PET while her face gets a lick from a very good dog.
A printed draft of the manuscript that became Girl Reflected in Knife, with lots and lots of pink ink in the margins. (note: this is a different draft from the one shown in the skeet above!)
Manuscript revisions on the screen in Scrivener, and on the desk in two printouts--one with comment bubbles from a trusted reader, one scrawled with revisions in pink ink.
Selfie with a stack of manuscripts.
A hardcover of We Could Be Anyone by Anna-Marie McLemore held up over a tree-shadowed sidewalk.
The author in 2018, grinning widely, kicking out one leg to the side, and holding a large poster of the Always Forever Maybe book cover. Cover art by Sean Freeman, design by Erin Fitzsimmons.
Anna-Marie McLemore with teal, yellow, red, and white paint on their face and clothes, cosplaying the collage cover art of Girl Reflected in Knife.
Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split and the author's 15 other books (picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and YA) among 11 cupcakes with lit candles.
The author, in a hospital gown/bed, cradling a hardcover of ANNA, BANANA, AND THE FRIENDSHIP SPLIT in a hospital baby blanket and staring down at it fondly. They are attended by nurse in a blue nursing gown.
1983 mass-market paperback edition of Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (plus a very good dog in the background).
Handwritten sign: "Teachers & Librarians--ask me for a free picture book!" on top of a stack of The Teachers' Pet written by Anica Mrose Rissi, illustrated by Zachariah OHora, with the top book open to a scene of the teacher using the class pet (an enormous hippo) as a chalkboard, while the hippo munches on a desk. "Our teacher was right. Bruno grew and grew. And grew. And grew. Everyone could see that Bruno was trouble. Everyone except Mr. Stricter."
A very good dog sits behind three dandelion puffs held up in the foreground. He looks away from the camera and is smile-panting with his tongue out.
Three kitten-soft dandelion puffs.
The author and her dog pose with a copy of the newspaper showing a different photo of the author and her dog (with a copy of her latest novel, Girl Reflected in Knife).
Wet-eyed selfie with earbuds in.
Selfie of the author holding a hardcover of Girl Reflected in Knife (cover art by David Roy Ocotla, cover design by Kaitlyn Yang) with two paper stars stuck to her face.
In the YA section of Labyrinth Books in Princeton, NJ, many great books on display, including a stack of signed hardcovers of Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi. The authors stands behind the stack, holding a copy.
Unstuck: A Writer's Guide by Ramona Ausubel, held up in front of brick steps.
Hardcover of Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi held up inside jaZams, under a sign with colorful lights that says Read & Play. (Cover art by David Roy Ocotla, design by Kaitlyn Yang.)
Log of this morning's brief phone calls to Representative Watson Coleman, Senator Kim, Senator Booker.
Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi (cover art by David Roy Ocotla, design by Kaitlyn Yang) on a window ledge.
Handwritten on a blue paper heart: "Intensely compulsive...A truly immersive read." --The Bulletin Sticker with the cover of Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi (cover art by David Roy Ocotla, design by Kaitlyn Yang).
Kirkus Book List 20 Best April Books for Young Readers covers of four books from the list, including Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi (cover art by David Roy Ocotla, design by Kaitlyn Yang).
Hardcover of Mothers and Other Strangers by Corey Ann Haydu, held up in front of a bookshelf full of good books and various trinkets.
A hardcover of Mothers and Other Strangers by Corey Ann Haydu, held up in front of a flowering magnolia tree.
Selfie of the author with a copy of Girl Reflected in Knife among the daffodils, and a dog snout/tongue coming into the frame from above, giving the author's forehead a lick.
1. Listen. Be careful the story you tell yourself. It might become the one you belive.
A ridiculously good (and hot/tired dog) panting on a tile floor, where he's lying to cool his belly. The front paws on his short & wrunkly legs are splayed to the sides in walrus positions, and his head looks enormous (because it is).
“Fans of dark fairy tales, unreliable narrators, and psychology will be drawn in to Destiny’s twisted web of lies and half-truths.” --SLJ
Barnes & Noble 25% off preorder sale [Cover of Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi; gorgeous cover art by David Roy Ocotla; design by Kaitlyn Yang] On sale 4.7.26 Use code word: PREORDER25 3/24 - 3/26 Penguin Teen.
Barnes & Noble 25% off preorder sale [Cover of Girl Reflected in Knife by Anica Mrose Rissi; gorgeous cover art by David Roy Ocotla; design by Kaitlyn Yang] On sale 4.7.26 Use code word: PREORDER25 3/24 - 3/26 Penguin Teen.
2. Here's a story for you: Once there was a girl named Destiny, who should have known better and did.
A hardcover of GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE by Anica Mrose Rissi (cover art by David Roy Ocotla) in a corner where a wooden floor, a brick wall, and a gray painted wall meet. The book comes out April 7!
Two good dogs looking happy.
Selfie of the author grinning wildly and clutching a hardcover of Girl Reflected in Knife (cover art by David Roy Ocotla).
Hardcover of Lies We Tell About the Stars by Susie Nadler, held up in front of a good dog.
Caption from a 2018 photo of the marked-up manuscript: Hi, I live inside this revision now.
Heavily marked-up manuscript pages from 2019 and the caption: Performing minor surgery before I send this draft to my agent. (I know it looks like a lot of blood, but this round is just a facelift. The organ transplants come later...)
Selfie of the author with a Girl Reflected in Knife sticker on her forehead and the wind blowing her hair around.
Meet author Anica Mrose Rissi March 28 Poughkeepsie Children's Book Festival Poughkeepsie, NY April 7, 6:30pm Princeton Public Library Official book launch event! Princeton, NJ with Emily X.R. Pan and PPL's Teen Advisory Board May 2 Hudson Children's Book Festival Hudson, NY May 28, 6pm Labyrinth Books Princeton Writers on Writing Princeton, NJ with Amy Jo Burns, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Dexter Palmer May 30 Sullivan County Youth Book Festival Monticello, NY anicarissi.com/events Jacket art by David Roy Ocotla
“Girl Reflected in Knife is beautiful and haunting, the kind of book that nests inside you, the kind of book you make space for and talk about and shove into the hands of everyone you know.” —Shaun David Hutchinson, award-winning author of We Are the Ants
"Anica Mrose Rissi has written one hell of a book about the way trauma shapes people and what it takes to rebuild yourself and your life on your own terms. Destiny’s story of abuse, addiction, neglect, and her sheer will to survive by creating a world where she can thrive is at once elegant and bruising, bone-sharp and filmy as gossamer. I loved every exquisite sentence.” —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
PW deal announcement: Liz Kossnar at Little, Brown has acquired world rights to INSPECTOR QUACK AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING UNDERPANTS and a second book in a new graphic chapter book series, Inspector Quack by Anica Mrose Rissi, illustrated by Heather Fox, which follows the bumbling but lovable Chief Inspector Quack and her two Special Inspector Buns as they get to the bottom of various mysteries. Publication will begin in winter 2028; Michael Bourret at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret represented the author, and Elena Giovinazzo at Heirloom Literary represented the illustrator.
Handwritten on a green heart, next to a sticker with the cover of GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE by Anica Mrose Rissi (cover illustration by David Roy Ocotla): “Propulsive….Alternating clipped chapters and dreamy poetry culminate in a deceptively compact novel about learning to live, not just survive….Deftly emphasize[s] the internal struggles of a fractured girl’s efforts to be cognitively present in her everyday life as she puts her world—and herself—back together.” --PW
Author selfie with a sticker of Girl Reflected in Knife.