Wendelin Van Draanen

Wendelin Van Draanen (born January 6, 1965) is an American writer of children's and young-adult fiction.

Early life Van Draanen was born in Chicago, Illinois. One of her very early influences was Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. She stated the book was "about the magic of growing up and reminded me of all the wonderful mischief my brothers and I got into when we were young". Bradbury's work inspired Van Draanen to write How I Survived Being a Girl, which was published by HarperCollins in 1997. Other early influences include Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown.

Van Draanen is the daughter of two chemists who immigrated from the Netherlands. In college, the Van Draanen family business was burned down, leading to financial hardship. Wendelin turned to writing to alleviate stress and she published her first book in 1997, titled How I Survived Being a Girl. In summarizing the plot, the Committee wrote, "When eleven-year-old Lincoln's mom, escaping an abusive boyfriend, gets a job with dementia patients, Lincoln uncovers the humanity lurking behind their illnesses." It also appeared on the CBC's Best Children's Book of the Year list with Outstanding Merit. Additional books that have appeared on the committee's Best Books list include, Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary, Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy, Shredderman, Runaway, The Gecko & Sticky, The Gecko & Sticky: Villains Lair, The Running Dream, Wild Bird, The Peach Rebellion (Outstanding Merit), and Mr. Whiskers and the Shenanigan Sisters.

WorldCat participating libraries report works by and about Wendelin Van Draanen that encompass roughly 70+ works in 370+ publications in 12 languages and 51,000+ library holdings. Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man (Apr 1998) Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy (Oct 1999) Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf (May 2000) Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary (Feb 2001) – Edgar nominee, Best Juvenile Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, 2013 The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones (2016) Wild Bird (2017) The Peach Rebellion (2022)

Filmography Shredderman Rules (2007) Flipped (2010) Sammy Keyes, television series