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Marilyn Kaye

Author of Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

160 Works 4,237 Members 110 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Marilyn Kaye was born in New Britain, Connecticut in 1949. She received both an undergraduate degree in English and a Master's degree in library science from Emory University. She also has a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago. She is the author of several series including show more the Replica series, the Out of this World series, the Gifted series, and the Camp Sunnyside Friends series. She also writes under the pseudonym Shannon Blair. She was an associate professor in the Division of Library and Information Science at St. John's University in New York for twenty years. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Marilyn Kaye, Shannon Blair

Disambiguation Notice:

"Shannon Blair" was a pseudonym used by Marilyn Kaye to write teen romances.

Image credit: Photo by Muriel Berthelot

Series

Works by Marilyn Kaye

Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind (2009) 277 copies, 15 reviews
Penelope (2007) 224 copies, 7 reviews
Gifted: Better Late Than Never (2009) 221 copies, 9 reviews
Amy, Number Seven (1998) 192 copies, 10 reviews
Gifted: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (2009) 148 copies, 5 reviews
Pursuing Amy (1998) 137 copies, 4 reviews
The Real Tooth Fairy (1990) 127 copies, 4 reviews
Gifted: Finders Keepers (2010) 107 copies, 3 reviews
Another Amy (1999) 107 copies, 5 reviews
Perfect Girls (1999) 93 copies, 4 reviews
Gifted: Now You See Me (2010) 87 copies, 4 reviews
Secret Clique (1999) 86 copies, 2 reviews
Gifted: Speak No Evil (2010) 71 copies, 4 reviews
And the Two Shall Meet (1999) 70 copies, 2 reviews
The Fever (2000) 67 copies, 1 review
No Boys Allowed! (1989) 64 copies
Demon Chick (2009) 64 copies, 6 reviews
Lucky Thirteen (2000) 59 copies, 1 review
Ice Cold (2000) 57 copies
Mystery Mother (1999) 53 copies, 1 review
In Search of Andy (2000) 52 copies
The Beginning (2000) 49 copies, 1 review
Happy Birthday, Dear Amy (2001) 49 copies, 1 review
The Substitute (2000) 44 copies
The Best of the Best (1999) 44 copies
Transformation (2000) 42 copies
All About Andy (2002) 42 copies, 1 review
What a Teddy Bear Needs (1989) 41 copies, 1 review
Virtual Amy (2001) 39 copies, 1 review
Return of the Perfect Girls (2001) 38 copies
The Vanishing (1998) 38 copies
Amy, on Her Own (2002) 38 copies, 1 review
Color War! (1989) 38 copies
Like Father, Like Son (2001) 35 copies, 1 review
Dreamcrusher (2001) 34 copies
New Girl in Cabin Six (1989) 34 copies
The Tennis Trap (1991) 32 copies
War of the Clones (2002) 31 copies, 1 review
Missing Pieces (2001) 30 copies
Cassie (1987) 30 copies
A Witch in Cabin Six (1990) 28 copies
Daphne (1987) 28 copies
Real Heroes (1993) 25 copies
Fast Forward (2002) 25 copies, 1 review
Play (2002) 24 copies, 1 review
The Return (1999) 24 copies, 1 review
Rewind (2002) 23 copies, 2 reviews
Too Many Counselors (1990) 22 copies
Lydia (1987) 22 copies
Phoebe (1987) 21 copies, 1 review
The Atonement of Mindy Wise (1991) 21 copies
The Convergence (1998) 21 copies
Looking for Trouble (1990) 21 copies
The New-and-Improved Sarah (1990) 19 copies
Gloss (2013) 19 copies, 1 review
Day With No Math (1992) 19 copies, 1 review
Max on Earth (1986) 19 copies
Katie Steals the Show (1990) 17 copies
Ticket to Love (2012) 15 copies
Erin and the Movie Star (1991) 15 copies
Christmas Reunion (1990) 15 copies
Happily Ever After (1992) 13 copies
Big Sister Blues (1991) 13 copies
Call Me Beautiful (1984) 13 copies
The Problem With Parents (1991) 12 copies
Star Struck! (1985) 12 copies, 1 review
Camp Spaghetti (1992) 10 copies
Megan's Ghost (1991) 9 copies
Runaway (1992) 9 copies
Balancing Act (1992) 8 copies
Cat Morgan, Working Girl (1991) 8 copies
Together For Never (2023) 7 copies
The Spirit of Sunnyside (1992) 7 copies
Dream Lover (1995) 7 copies
Summer Scandal (2014) 6 copies, 1 review
Max on Fire (1986) 6 copies
Max in Love (1986) 4 copies
Choose Me (1992) 4 copies
White Lies and Tiaras (2012) 4 copies, 1 review
Cyber Kiss (1997) 3 copies
Love Bytes (1997) 3 copies
Trouble In Paradise (1998) 2 copies
Vem är Amy (2002) 1 copy
Projekt Månskära (2005) 1 copy
Geniet (2001) 1 copy
Three of a Kind (1990) 1 copy
Vaarallinen perimä (2006) 1 copy
Kloonattu tulevaisuus (2006) 1 copy
De wedstrijd 1 copy
Anklagad (2002) 1 copy, 1 review
Stranger in Paradise (1996) 1 copy
Gifted Books 1 and 2 (2010) 1 copy
Max Goes Bad (Plus) (1989) 1 copy
Max All Over (Plus) (1990) 1 copy
Judy vs Judy 1 copy
Groupies (Video High) (1995) 1 copy
De mysterieuze ontmoeting (1999) 1 copy, 1 review
De geheime club (1999) 1 copy
The body beautiful (1994) 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Kaye, Marilyn Janice
Other names
Blair, Shannon
Birthdate
1949-06-19
Gender
female
Education
Emory University (M.A.)
University of Chicago (PhD)
Occupations
young adult writer
romance novelist
teacher
librarian
Organizations
St. John's University
Short biography
Marilyn Kaye was born in New Britain, Connecticut, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned a master’s degree in library science from Emory University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She has written numerous books for teenagers, including series such as Replica, Camp Sunnyside Friends, After-School Club, Out of this World, and Last on Earth. Her 2008 book Penelope was adapted into a Hollywood film. She taught children’s and teen literature at St. John’s University in New York for more than 20 years.
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
New Britain, Connecticut, USA
Places of residence
Paris, France
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Disambiguation notice
"Shannon Blair" was a pseudonym used by Marilyn Kaye to write teen romances.
Associated Place (for map)
USA

Members

Reviews

114 reviews
Out of the three I read, this was my faaaaavorite as a kid. Now, I gave it four stars because it was just so interesting! What action! Such a plot! Such possibilities! All of this I declare as an adult. Wow, I -adored- it. Disliked the ending and found it enormously stupid. It was super lame that Amy didn't meet -all- the clones then. So she'd met herself, ballet!Amy, actor!Amy, and then seven others. That's ten Amys. How difficult would it have been for her to meet them -all- here, Marilyn show more Kaye, and go from there? Sigh. I liked this book showing Amy could be poisoned. Good worldbuilding. As a kid, I was horrified when someone died. As an adult, I knew it would happen going in. As an adult, this book was much more nightmare fuel. The person died not because the sounds were too loud; it was because electric shocks simulating something related to the sounds were being administered. The shocks got worse as the sounds got overwhelmingly louder. One person was literally shocked to death while hearing those loud noises. The room was soundproofed. Everyone who heard the noises was screaming for it to be turned off and for the shocks to stop. The final event surrounding this, when Amy jumps out of a window--stupid. I disliked it. And the book ended how it did--no. Cheap. Lame. Lost opportunity. And it's apparently -retconned- further in the series? NO! CHEAP SHOT.

Jeanine continues to be her usual jerk self in this one. I felt bad that Tasha felt bad for her. I was dismayed when she handed over the necklace, as I had been as a kid. As when I was a kid, I cheered inwardly when she got the necklace back -and- found the poison. People like Mrs Morgan are terrible people. Tasha and Eric run to her, an adult, and explain they found what made Amy sick, and that the poison was literally in Jeanine's drawer. Mrs Morgan flaps her jaws about blaarp blugghhh oh no not poooosssible blargh yarp blugh. Jeanine could have been physically pouring the poison into Amy's mouth in front of Mrs Morgan, and Mrs Morgan would have yapped about how it's not true. Go fuck yourself, Mrs Morgan, and I hope your kids are placed with more responsible parents.

Over the course of all three books I read, a lot of emotions didn't make sense, nor some of the reactions. People didn't change as characters or learn anything really, and part of that was the continuity being so bad because the author preferred to heap repeated backstory onto her audience for most of the books. A lot of interesting stuff took place off-page and in between books that I would have liked to see. What a letdown. I'm glad I read these three books again, though.
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I first discovered a Cynthia Blair YA novel back in my preteens, rediscovered the author a few years ago, and I've been enjoying reading new-to-me YA books by her ever since.

It's amazing that I got such a kick out of this novel, and not just for the '80s nostalgia factor. Yes, the story's pretty much got the predictable events I would've been surprised not to see. Even so, the story manages not to roll out in the most predictable of ways at every turn.

I kinda had a chuckle over the teen show more contest prizes—the fact that the prize would be different depending on the winner's gender. I almost felt like the boy's prize would be better than Lisa's, and I wonder what kind of feedback or pushback a teen contest like it would get today. Heeheehee, pretty sure the rules would be different nowadays.

I also really liked the story's message about having to live with the decisions you make, whether they're good or poor decisions. (Yes, good decisions can come with difficult consequences too, of course.)

All in all, this read was plenty of fun for me.
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Ever since Ken Preston had an accident that killed his best friend and left him injured, he can hear dead people. The biggest problem is that they tend to crowd him and keep him distracted. He attends a seance and finds that there are a lot of lies involved.

It's interesting but the characters need to start confiding in each other or at least occasionally talking about some of the stuff going on before one of them ends up dead.
½
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Does anyone remember the REPLICA series by Marilyn Kaye? It was quite popular with my middle school students about 10 years ago. (Geez, that's probably before most of you younger bloggers even knew how to read.) Anyway, Marilyn Kaye has a new series, and I'm predicting it will be just as popular with my students.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND is book #1 in this new series. Once again there is something special about a group of young show more people. This time there are nine teens that are "gifted". These "gifts" include things like being invisible, reading minds, and seeing future events before they happen.

A girl named Amanda stumbles across this unique collection of individuals when she discovers a "gift" of her own. Usually, Amanda is known as one of the mean girls around school. She struts around like a queen bee and verbally harasses her classmates. What people don't know is that her behavior is a cover-up. She learns as a little girl that if she feels sorry for someone, she becomes that person. She sort of inhabits their body so that she feels their pain, both mental and physical. This time she accidentally feels sorry for geeky Tracey, and the next thing she knows she is waking up in Tracey's bed in Tracey's body.

It's all confusing for Amanda/Tracey until she finds herself in one of Tracey's classes. It is a special class Amanda never knew existed. After several days living as Tracey and attending this class, she is beginning to understand that the small group of students has powers they call "gifts", and they may be more important than she ever realized.

Book #2 is titled BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, and book #3, HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW came out in October. These books are fast-paced and simply written, but just like Kaye's earlier series, they are addictive. I'm starting book #2 and will most definitely purchase any others that follow.
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Ned Delaney Illustrator
Rachel Vale Cover designer

Statistics

Works
160
Members
4,237
Popularity
#5,934
Rating
½ 3.5
Reviews
110
ISBNs
363
Languages
9
Favorited
5

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