Life and career[edit]

Niven grew up in Richmond, Indiana.^[1][2] As well as writing novels, Niven has also worked as a screenwriter, journalist and an associate producer at ABC Television.^[3]


Her first two books were non-fiction narratives called The Ice Master (published in 2000) and Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic (published in 2003).^[4][5] In 2010, she published a memoir of her years in high school called The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town.^[6]


She began writing a series of historical novels in 2009. The first, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, was based on a short film of the same name that she had made. It won an Emmy Award and the Colin Higgins Award for Screenwriting.^[3] The series also includes, Velva Jean Learns to Fly, Becoming Clementine and American Blonde.^[7]


Niven's first young adult novel, All the Bright Places was released in 2015. The narrative follows two teenagers, Violet and Finch who are struggling with mental health issues.^[8] It won a 2015 Goodreads choice award for Best Young Adult Fiction^[9] and was longlisted for the 2015 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.^[10] It has been adapted into a film by Netflix and stars Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Alexandra Shipp, and Luke Wilson.^[11] Production on the film began in October 2018^[12] and it was released on 28 February 2020.^[13]


She released another bestselling young adult novel in 2016 called Holding Up the Universe,^[14] and her third young adult novel, Breathless, was released in September, 2020.^[15]