She is the author of Hear Her Howl and For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, which was selected for ALA’s 2025 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, received a starred review from School Library Journal, praise from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, and was the recipient of the 2024 Millikin Medal for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction.
She grew up in Santa Barbara, California, earned her MFA in film directing from UCLA, and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY as a recovering Catholic and ex-good girl.
DeRose applied the Page 69 Test to Hear Her Howl with the following results:
I was familiar with this test, having done it for my debut, For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, but it was really interesting to once again do it for Hear Her Howl.Visit Kim DeRose's website.
On page 69 we are with our main character, Rue Holloway (who has been sent away by her mother to an all-girl’s Catholic boarding school for kissing another girl) and Charlotte Savage (the school’s rebellious outcast, who is Rue’s semi-foe but soon-to-be love interest) as they are approached by Mother Superior. Rue has secretly acted out, and the school has blamed Charlotte, and in this moment we discover whether or not Rue is going to fess up and clear Charlotte’s name.
While this scene doesn’t tell you the full story of Hear Her Howl (for example, we have no idea about why Rue has been sent away, or the book's speculative element, i.e. that the girls within this book are reclaiming their wild and can or will turn into wolves), what it does reveal is a pivotal turning point between Rue and Charlotte - and their relationship is central to the book. It also establishes the strict system that they are both operating within, in the form of Mother Superior. And, without giving any plot points away, this page also leaves us with a big question about how things are going to move forward between Rue and Charlotte.
Q&A with Kim DeRose.
The Page 69 Test: For Girls Who Walk through Fire.
My Book, The Movie: For Girls Who Walk through Fire.
--Marshal Zeringue
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