Big and Bad: A Novella is Anna Scotti’s ’80 (graduated as Anna K. Coates) recent young adult novel about a California teen called Candy; an underdog who had a rough home life growing up.
In this action-packed, emotional high-school story, Candy meets a sarcastic stranger named Carlos with whom she falls in love and provides a sweet counterpoint to the chaos she faces every day.
Editorial Reviews of Big and Bad: A Novella
“So utterly engrossing, so powerfully told is Big and Bad, Anna Scotti’s recent young adult novel, that I read it in a single sitting. Her protagonists, Bear and Candy (one canine, one human), are true underdogs, doing their best to navigate an uncertain, frequently cruel world. Scotti has a gift for complexity; her characters are alive on the page, recognizably flawed and sympathetic at once. The book is also a page turner, deftly plotted and expertly paces. As if that wasn’t achievement enough, Scotti has made Big and Bad a compassionate, searching inquiry into both a human’s and a dog’s need for home, belonging, and kindness.” – Ellen Bass
“Big and Bad” is an achingly bittersweet and pure novella about the hurt and wonder, the pain and joy of life. I often read sections of this just before I started working each night, because I felt as though it made me a better writer. Anna Scotti writes fiction like the poet she is. – Cynthia Kadohata
Big and Bad is published by the Texas A&M University Press
A former journalist, Anna has written for national and regional magazines including InStyle, People, The Los Angeles Times Traveling in Style, Bon Appetit, Los Angeles, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, YM, and Sugar. She was a foreign correspondent for WhoWeekly (Australia) and a columnist for the late, great Buzz: The Talk of Los Angeles. A sampling of her published work can be accessed from her website.
