Chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the "Ten Recommended Books of 1997 for Mature Teens", Kerry Madden captured the attention of young adult readers with her novel Offsides. Other works include her newest short story, "Seeds of Destruction," which was a finalist for the Raymond Carver Short Story Prize, published by Carver Magazine in May of 2004. Her play, "Chattanooga Flamenco," was a finalist at Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2002 and 2003. Kerry currently teaches fiction at the UCLA Writers Program, Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, Seven Crows Books in Silver Lake, and has taught through PEN in the Classroom at Belmont High School, Media Bistro, Creative Space, Sewanee Young Writers Conference, LAUSD in East Los Angeles, Teen Mom Writing Workshops for LAUSD, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Ningbo University in the People's Republic of China.  Other recent titles include Gentle’s Holler (2005), Louisiana’s Song (2007), Jessie’s Mountain (2008), and Up Close: Harper Lee (2009).