Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Releases Girl Waits with Gun, Acclaimed Debut Novel from New York Times Bestselling Author Amy Stewart

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today released the critically acclaimed Girl
Waits with Gun. The enthralling debut novel from New
York Times best-selling author Amy Stewart (The
Drunken Botanist) is based on the forgotten true story of
Constance Kopp, one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs, and
her two strong, savvy sisters Norma and Fleurette.

“The Kopp sisters give me everything a storyteller could ever want:
larger than life characters who carried around deep, dark secrets from
their past and then went out into the world and defied everyone’s
expectations of what a woman could do,” says author Amy Stewart. “They
have not left my head since I discovered them and I can’t stop writing
their story.”

Girl Waits with Gun kicks off a three-book
series featuring the real-life exploits of the sleuthing sisters. The
title is a New York Times Book Review “Editor’s
Choice,” has been named an Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers
Association, as well as a LibraryReads pick, and will also be featured
as part of the Women’s National Book Association’s annual National
Reading Group Month in October.

“With Girl Waits with Gun and the Kopp sisters, the uniquely
creative mind of Amy Stewart has given us riveting fiction,” says HMH
General Interest Publisher Bruce Nichols. “These are unsinkable women
who strike a chord with everyone. We planned for these gritty, original,
pistol-packing ladies to fill at least three books when we first signed
Amy, and we have great hopes that number will grow.”

The New York Times Book Review’s Katherine A. Powers
comments: “Stewart has spun a fine, historically astute novel. The
sisters’ personalities flower under Stewart’s pen, contributing happy
notes of comedy to a terrifying situation.” The Washington
Post adds that “Constance is a formidable character who can
pack heat, deliver a zinger and catch a criminal without missing a beat.
The novel is an entertaining and enlightening story of how far one woman
will go to protect her family.” The Los Angeles Times calls
it a “zippy, winsome novel…a cinematic story of the [Kopp] women, the
siege instigated by their powerful enemy, and their brave efforts in the
face of real violence.”

Visit AmyStewart.com
for archival photos of the Kopps and their contemporaries, the book’s
signature cocktail recipe, designed by Amy Stewart herself, and details
of the author’s 23-city US book tour.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade Publishing

For nearly two centuries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade Publishing has
published some of the world’s most renowned novels, non-fiction,
children’s books and reference works. As part of one of the world’s
leading learning companies, it is uniquely positioned to create
educational and entertaining content for multiple channels and in
various formats — from hardcovers and paperbacks to eBooks and mobile
apps. Its distinguished author list includes nine Nobel Prize winners,
forty-seven Pulitzer Prize winners, thirteen National Book Award
winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and
Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. HMH publishes such distinguished
authors as Philip Roth, Temple Grandin, Tim O’Brien, and Umberto Eco,
and a celebrated roster of children’s authors and illustrators including
Lois Lowry, Chris Van Allsburg and David Wiesner. HMH is also home to
The Best American series®; The American Heritage® and Webster’s New
World™ dictionaries; Betty Crocker®, Better Homes and Gardens®, How to
Cook Everything®, The Gourmet Cookbook, and other leading culinary
properties; the Peterson Field Guides®; CliffsNotes; books by J.R.R.
Tolkien; and many iconic children’s books and characters including
Curious George®, The Little Prince and The Polar Express.

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Contacts

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Taryn Roeder, 617-351-3818
Associate
Director of Publicity
Taryn.Roeder@hmhco.com