Kiersten White

Paranormalcy

Cover of the first novel
Paranormalcy Supernaturally Endlessly
Author	Kiersten White
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Urban fantasy
Publisher	HarperCollins
Published	August 31, 2010
Media type	Print (Hardcover)

The story focuses on a girl named Evie, a member of a special international police force assigned to paranormal cases. As the tale progresses, Evie's professional duties begin to conflict with her growing desire for a normal life.

The first novel received numerous advance reviews from young-adult authors, and debuted at #7 on the New York Times Best Seller list in the "Children's Books—Chapter Books" category. Prior to the novel's release, a film adaptation entered the early planning stages.

Paranormalcy follows the efforts of the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA), a group tasked with policing various mythological beings who live secretly among humans. The protagonist of the story is an IPCA officer named Evie, a teenage girl who possesses an ability to detect paranormals disguised as human beings.

Evie's allies include a shape-shifting boy named Lend, who she meets as the story begins, and a faerie named Reth, whom she previously admired. Both young men become romantic interests of Evie's as the tale progresses, while the three of them are joined by other companions as well. At its center, Paranormalcy examines Evie's attempts to balance her IPCA duties with her growing desire to lead a normal teenage life.

While experiencing "an abundance of normal" during the early phases of motherhood, author Kiersten White developed "a fascination with all things paranormal". She eventually began to question "what you'd do with a vampire if you didn't want to kill it." This led her to envision the International Paranormal Containment Agency, along with the story's cast.

The author has stated that she wrote the first Paranormalcy novel "on a whim", during which time she was attempting to have a different story published. Eventually, she and her agent decided to make Paranormalcy their priority, which led to it being acquired by HarperCollins in 2009.

"Evie, the main character, started talking to me and then I thought, why on earth would a sixteen-year-old work for a covert, international government organization? The rest of the plot just sort of fell into place!"

To facilitate her work, White researched a number of mythological creatures, and wrote while listening to an Internet radio station "tailored to the mood of the book."

Many of the story's themes were drawn from the author's own experiences as a teenager—including matters of loneliness, secrecy, and isolation. White was also inspired by the events of "a tough time" during her adult life. However, she ultimately found this to be an inappropriate foundation for the character of Evie, who she considers vulnerable but spunky. She then rewrote certain material in order to find the proper voice for her protagonist.