Wendy Mass
Encyclopedia
Wendy Mass is an award-winning author of young-adult novels and children's books
. Her most successful book was A Mango-Shaped Space
which won the American Library Association
(ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School in 2004. Her book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
won a Peoples' Choice Award.
, Mass's favorite subjects in school were reading
and writing
. Wendy worked at town libraries and ghostwrote her friends' college applications. As a child she would compete with friends to see who could read the most books; this helped develop her writing skills. Mass's first story, co-written by her two siblings when she was in junior high
, starred a pet that somehow turned into a goat and destroyed the neighborhood.
In high school
, Mass worked at local public libraries
and continued to hone her writing skills. She took writing classes and decided on writing for her career.
major at Tufts University
, Mass continued to develop her writing skills. After graduation she moved to Los Angeles
, where she tried her hand at a multitude of writing businesses, including working as a literary agent
, at a television
casting company
, editor
of a magazine
, and a script reader
for a film producer
. Mass however found none of these jobs suitable and realized she wanted to inspire pre-teens, teens
, and adult
s by writing book
s 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
. After six months, Mass submitted her first book for publication but no publisher accepted it. Soon, Mass settled on writing educational books for teens, hoping that would lead to writing children's fiction
.
(ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for her children's fiction book A Mango-Shaped Space
in 2004. She won the American Library Association Award (best books for the teen age selection), New York Public, and New York Public Library Best Books for the teenage designation, Peoples' Choice Award, Great Lakes Book Award and Michigan State award.
, with her twins Griffin and Chloe, her husband Mike, and her cat Zoey.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
. Her most successful book was A Mango-Shaped Space
A Mango-Shaped Space
A Mango-Shaped Space is a novel by Wendy Mass. It is about Mia Winchell, a thirteen-year-old girl living with synesthesia. Her synesthesia causes her problems in school, with friends, and winning the understanding of her parents and peers. The book received the American Library Association...
which won the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
(ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School in 2004. Her book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life is a 2006 children's novel by Wendy Mass. Set in present-day New York, the story follows twelve-year-old Jeremy Fink and his neighbor Lizzy Muldoun as they attempt to retrieve four keys that unlock a wooden box delivered one month before Jeremy's 13th birthday...
won a Peoples' Choice Award.
Early life
Born in Livingston, New JerseyLivingston, New Jersey
Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 29,366.Livingston was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 5, 1813, from portions of Caldwell Township and Springfield...
, Mass's favorite subjects in school were reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
and writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
. Wendy worked at town libraries and ghostwrote her friends' college applications. As a child she would compete with friends to see who could read the most books; this helped develop her writing skills. Mass's first story, co-written by her two siblings when she was in junior high
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
, starred a pet that somehow turned into a goat and destroyed the neighborhood.
In high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, Mass worked at local public libraries
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
and continued to hone her writing skills. She took writing classes and decided on writing for her career.
College
As an EnglishEnglish studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
major at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, Mass continued to develop her writing skills. After graduation she moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she tried her hand at a multitude of writing businesses, including working as a literary agent
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
, at a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
casting company
Casting (performing arts)
In the performing arts, casting is a pre-production process for selecting a cast of actors, dancers, singers, models and other talent for a live or recorded performance.-Casting process:...
, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of a magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, and a script reader
Script coverage
Script coverage is a filmmaking term for the analysis and grading of screenplays, often within the "script development" department of a production company....
for a film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. Mass however found none of these jobs suitable and realized she wanted to inspire pre-teens, teens
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
, and adult
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
s by writing book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s for children, teens, and adults. She moved back to her New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
hometown and while writing, worked as a book editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, operating out of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. After six months, Mass submitted her first book for publication but no publisher accepted it. Soon, Mass settled on writing educational books for teens, hoping that would lead to writing children's fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
.
Honors and awards
Over the next six years, Mass wrote seventeen successful educational books for teens. Mass won the American Library AssociationAmerican Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
(ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for her children's fiction book A Mango-Shaped Space
A Mango-Shaped Space
A Mango-Shaped Space is a novel by Wendy Mass. It is about Mia Winchell, a thirteen-year-old girl living with synesthesia. Her synesthesia causes her problems in school, with friends, and winning the understanding of her parents and peers. The book received the American Library Association...
in 2004. She won the American Library Association Award (best books for the teen age selection), New York Public, and New York Public Library Best Books for the teenage designation, Peoples' Choice Award, Great Lakes Book Award and Michigan State award.
Personal life
Mass currently lives in Sparta Township, New JerseySparta Township, New Jersey
Sparta Township is a Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 19,722...
, with her twins Griffin and Chloe, her husband Mike, and her cat Zoey.
Non-fiction
- Stonehenge, (1998)
- Teen Drug Abuse, (1998)
- Women's Rights, (1998)
- Readings on Night, (2000)
- Great Authors of Children's' Literature, (2001)
- Gods and Goddesses, (2002)
- John Cabot: Early Explorer, (2004)
- Ray Bradbury: Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy, (2004)
- Halloween, (2004)
Fiction
- Getting a Clue, (1996)
- The Bad Hair Day, (1996 children's picture book)
- A Mango-Shaped SpaceA Mango-Shaped SpaceA Mango-Shaped Space is a novel by Wendy Mass. It is about Mia Winchell, a thirteen-year-old girl living with synesthesia. Her synesthesia causes her problems in school, with friends, and winning the understanding of her parents and peers. The book received the American Library Association...
, (2003) - Leap Day, (2004)
- Rapunzel:The One with All the Hair, (2005)
- Wanted, (2003)
- Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of LifeJeremy Fink and the Meaning of LifeJeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life is a 2006 children's novel by Wendy Mass. Set in present-day New York, the story follows twelve-year-old Jeremy Fink and his neighbor Lizzy Muldoun as they attempt to retrieve four keys that unlock a wooden box delivered one month before Jeremy's 13th birthday...
, (2006) - Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall, (2007)
- Every Soul A Star, (2008)
- 11 Birthdays, (2009)
- Finally, (2010)
- The Candymakers, (October 2010)
- 13 Gifts, 2011