Yahoo Lifestyle Elin Hilderbrand Calls Writing “The Academy ”With Daughter Shelby ‘The Highlight of My Career’ — See the Cover! (Exclusive)
The book, which comes out this fall, is the first of several novels by the mother-daughter duo
Laurie Richards; Little, Brown and Company; Beowulf Sheehan
Shelby Cunningham (left), the cover of 'The Academy' and Elin HilderbrandBestselling author Elin Hilderbrand is turning a new page with her daughter, Shelby Cunningham.
PEOPLE can exclusively share the cover of The Academy, a new novel written by Hilderbrand and Cunningham. The first in an upcoming series, the book will be published by Little, Brown and Company this fall.
The Academy follows a cast of characters during a year at the Tiffin Academy, a prestigious New England boarding school that finds itself launched into the spotlight after a surprise rating as the number one boarding school in America.
Things take a turn, though, once the new school year begins. Students begin to receive mysterious items on their phones from a new app called ZipZap, and everyone seems to be hiding secrets, including the school’s queen bee Davi Banerjee, reclusive transfer student Colby Hicks and unconventional admissions director Cordelia Spooner.
Little, Brown and Company
'The Academy' by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby CunninghamThe Academy, Hilderbrand tells PEOPLE, is based upon the boarding school in Rhode Island that Cunningham attended before she headed to college.
Related: PEOPLE Picks the Best Elin Hilderbrand Books to Dip into This Summer
“In the middle of her second semester, she was telling me so many juicy stories that I said to her, ‘We have to write a novel about this,’” Hilderbrand says. “I could never have written this novel without Shelby — not only does it feature her lived experience (I went to public high school in Pennsylvania) but she wrote key scenes from the students' points of view and edited the entire manuscript for authenticity.”
That "authenticity," Hilderbrand says, also included gaining a better understanding of Gen Z.
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“As much as Gen X wants to believe they understand Gen Z's culture and lexicon, I am here to tell you, we do not,” she says. “Shelby's comments to my writing fell into the category of ‘No one my age would ever say this, you are such a Boomer.’ Shelby also provided all fashion, music and social media details (some of which might even be out of style by the time the book is published!).”
Little, Brown and Company
Elin Hilderbrand (left) and Shelby CunninghamThe novel also comes after Hilderbrand, the author of over 30 books, announced her retirement from writing beach-focused novels in 2024, following the publication of her novel Swan Song. The author, who emphasized that The Academy is not a young adult book, says it might include new material not previously seen in her other work — though that shouldn’t dispel any loyal readers.
“If anything, it is more ‘adult’ than my summer novels,” she said. “We leaned in to all the sex, drugs and profanity. That said, my longtime readers will find it reads like a typical ‘Elin’ novel with multiple points of view, lots of delicious food descriptions and tons of interpersonal drama.”
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“Overall, writing and now launching this book with Shelby has been the highlight of my career,” Hilderbrand says. “I am madly in love with this novel. It might be my favorite of all."
The Academy will be published on Sept. 16, 2025 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.
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