Becca Fitzpatrick

About Becca Fitzpatrick

Becca Fitzpatrick was born on February 3, 1979, in Ogden, Utah. She grew up in Nebraska and earned her degree from Brigham Young University. She has spoken about the influence of her faith on her creative work, noting that themes of redemption appear throughout the Hush, Hush series, though she did not see her writing as explicitly religious. After college she worked in health care before committing fully to writing fiction.

She began the Hush, Hush saga after enrolling in an online writing class. The road to publication was long—the manuscript went through four years of revision and multiple rejection letters before Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers acquired it. The debut novel was published in 2009.

The Hush, Hush Saga

The series follows Nora Grey, a high school student who discovers that her brooding lab partner, Patch, is a fallen angel. The four-book arc—Hush, Hush (2009), Crescendo (2010), Silence (2011), and Finale (2012)—mixes paranormal romance with suspense and drew comparisons to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series at the height of the paranormal YA boom.

Hush, Hush reached number ten on the New York Times Best Sellers list in November 2011. The series attracted considerable online fandom, and Fitzpatrick has maintained an active presence with readers through social media and book events. In July 2021, she announced that a film adaptation was in production, though the project has since been indefinitely delayed.

Standalone Novels

After completing the Hush, Hush saga, Fitzpatrick published two standalone thrillers aimed at older teen and young adult readers. Black Ice (2014) follows two girls stranded in a Wyoming snowstorm who accept help from dangerous strangers. Dangerous Lies (2015) centers on a teenager placed in witness protection who must build a new identity while hiding a deadly secret. Both novels lean more heavily into contemporary suspense than the paranormal elements of her earlier work.

Book Challenges

Despite their widespread popularity, Fitzpatrick's novels have faced challenges in school settings. Hush, Hush has been questioned in Wisconsin, while the three Crescendo-era sequels have been challenged in Florida districts. The objections most often cite sexual content and violence. Fitzpatrick has not been publicly outspoken on book challenges, but the bans have brought renewed attention to the series among readers who discovered her work through news coverage of the challenges.