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A Harvard sophomore accused of plagiarizing parts of another novelist's work apologized on Monday and said her book would be revised for future printings to eliminate "inappropriate" but "unintentional" similarities between them.
Kaavya Viswanathan, 19, received mostly positive reviews (including one in USA TODAY) for her April chick-lit title, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.
But Viswanathan's book, about an Indian-American teenager who sets her sights on Harvard, includes passages that are strikingly similar -- and sometimes the same -- as passages in two novels by Megan McCafferty: Sloppy Firsts, published in 2001, and Second Helpings, published in 2003.
Like Opal Mehta, Jessica Darling, the protagonist in Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, is a high school student living in New Jersey.
The accusations against Viswanathan surfaced Sunday when the Harvard Crimson, the university's student newspaper, posted a story on its website documenting eight similarities.
In a statement released Monday, Viswanathan said: "When I was in high school, I read and loved ... Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, which spoke to me in a way few other books did. Recently, I was very surprised and upset to learn that there are similarities between some passages in my novel ... and passages in these books.
"While the central stories of my book and hers are completely different, I wasn't aware of how much I may have internalized Ms. McCafferty's words. I am a huge fan of her work and can honestly say that any phrasing similarities between her works and mine were completely unintentional and unconscious.
"I sincerely apologize to Megan McCafferty and to any who feel they have been misled by these unintentional errors on my part."
Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch said Monday that "after conversations with Kaavya and her parents, we learned that these mistakes are her own, she acknowledges them, they were completely inadvertent, unconscious, unintentional. She had no idea the extent to which she had internalized the language."
Earlier Monday, McCafferty said through her publisher, Crown, a division of Random House: "I want to thank my loyal readers who first brought this issue to my attention. After reading the book in question, and finding passages, characters, and plot points in common, I am hoping this can be resolved in a timely and responsible manner."
Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum said Monday that Random House contacted Little, Brown's legal counsel last week "informing them of the situation which has arisen about their book."
When a USA TODAY reporter read Viswanathan's statement of apology to him late Monday, Applebaum said, "We haven't seen her statement yet and will withhold remarks about it until we do."
Viswanathan signed a two-book, $500,000 contract with Little, Brown when she was 17. Opal Mehta, her debut novel, has been optioned by DreamWorks.
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