Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass (born April 22, 1967) is an American author of young adult novels and children's books.

Her 2003 novel, A Mango-Shaped Space won the American Library Association (ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School in 2004. Her other notable works include: 11 Birthdays, A Mango-Shaped Space and Every Soul a Star.

Mass's novel Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life was adapted into a feature film in 2011.

Early life

Born in Livingston, New Jersey, Mass's favorite subjects in school were reading and science. Wendy worked at town libraries and bookstores. As a child she would compete with friends to see who could read the most books; this helped develop her writing skills. Her first career vision was to be an astronaut. Mass's first story, co-written by her two siblings, starred a cat that somehow turned into a goat and destroyed her neighborhood.

In high school, Mass worked at a local bookstore and continued to hone her writing skills. She took writing classes and decided on writing for her career.

Education

As an English major at Tufts University, Mass continued to develop her writing skills. Mass mainly wrote short stories throughout college, and after graduation she moved to Los Angeles, where she tried her hand at a multitude of writing businesses, including assisting a literary agent, and at a television casting company, editor of a magazine, and a script reader for a film producer. Mass realized she wanted to inspire pre-teens, teens, and adults by writing books for children, teens, and adults. She moved back to her New Jersey hometown and while writing, worked as a book editor, operating out of New York City and Connecticut. She has a master's degree in creative writing from California State University, Long Beach and a Doctor of Letters degree from Drew University.

Honors and awards

Mass has published 31 novels for children and teens. She won the American Library Association (ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for her children's book A Mango-Shaped Space in 2004. She won the American Library Association Award (best books for the teenage selection), New York Public, and New York Public Library Best Books for the teenage designation, Great Lakes Book Award and Michigan State award, and has since won 11 state book awards.

TV scripts

Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater (2003) (with Stu Levine and Tom Scharpling)