Meg Rosoff (born 16 October 1956) is an American writer based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel '' How I Live Now'' (Puffin, 2004), which won the Guardian Prize, the Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award and made the Whitbread Awards shortlist. Her second novel, '' Just in Case'' (Penguin, 2006), won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians recognising the year's best children's book published in the UK.

Early life and education

Rosoff was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, in 1956, into a Jewish family. She was the second of four sisters. She attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1974 to 1977, then moved to London and studied sculpture at

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art school, art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's beca ...

. She returned to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to finish her degree in 1980, and later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for 9 years, where she worked in publishing and advertising.

Career

In 1989, at the age of 32 Rosoff returned to

and has lived there ever since. Between 1989 and 2003, she worked for a variety of advertising agencies as a copywriter. She began to write novels after her youngest sister died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. Her young-adult novel '' How I Live Now'' was published in 2004, in the same week she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. It won the annual

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for Children's literature, children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conf ...

, and the annual Michael L. Printz Award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

, recognising the year's "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". In 2005 she published a children's book, ''Meet Wild Boars'', which was illustrated by Sophie Blackall. '' Just in Case'', published in 2006, won the British Carnegie Medal and German Jugendliteraturpreis. '' What I Was'', Rosoff's third novel, was published in August 2007, followed by two more collaborations with Blackall: ''Wild Boars Cook'' and ''Jumpy Jack and Googily''. Another novel, ''The Brides Farewell'', was named one of 2009's ten best books for young adults that were published in the American adult market. ''There Is No Dog'', published by Penguin in 2011 (US edition, Putnam, 2012) is a comic novel supposing that God is a 19-year-old boy. Rosoff told ''Book Nerd'', "The title comes from a joke about a dyslexic atheist walking up and down in front of a church with a sign that reads THERE IS NO DOG." ''Picture Me Gone'' was a finalist for the 2013

National Book Award for Young People's Literature The National Book Award for Young People's Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation (NBF) to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writer ...

(U.S.). The film of ''How I Live Now,'' directed by Kevin MacDonald, opened in Britain on 4 October 2013 and in America and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 5 November 2013. It starred Saoirse Ronan and George MacKay and featured Tom Holland. In 2016, Rosoff won the Astrid Lindgren memorial award and the largest cash prize in children's literature for her entire catalog of work.

Bibliography

Picture books

*''Meet Wild Boars'', illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2005) *''Jumpy Jack and Googily'', illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2008) *''Wild Boars Cook'', illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2010) *''It's A Moose!", illustrated by David Ercolini (2020)

Middle Grade Books

*''Good Dog, McTavish'', illustrated by Grace Easton (2017) *''McTavish Goes Wild'', illustrated by Grace Easton (2018) *''McTavish Takes The Biscuit'', illustrated by Grace Easton (2019) *''McTavish on the Move'', illustrated by Grace Easton and David Shephard (2020)

Novels

* '' How I Live Now'' (2004) * '' Just in Case'' (2006) * '' What I Was'' (2007) * ''The Bride's Farewell'' (2009) * ''Moose Baby (originally Vamoose)'' (2010) * ''There Is No Dog'' (2011) * ''Picture Me Gone'' (2013) * ''Jonathan Unleashed'' (2016) * ''The Great Godden'' (2020) * ''Friends Like These'' (2022)

Non-fiction

* ''London Guide: your passport to great travel'' (Washington: Open Road, 1995), by Rosoff & Caren Acker

Honors

Lifetime achievement honors and awards

*Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

(2014) *

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award () is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). The prize is five million SEK, making it ...

(2016) *Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge

Individual book awards

''How I Live Now''

* 2004

* 2005 Michael L. Printz Award (US) * 2005 Branford Boase Award (first novel) * 2005 Der Luchs des Jahres * Finalist for 2005 LA Times Book Prize * Finalist 2005 Whitbread Children's Book Award * Finalist 2005 Orange First Novel prize * Finalist 2006 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

''Just in Case''

* 2007 Carnegie Medal * 2008 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis * Finalist 2007 LA Times Book Prize * Finalist 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize * Finalist 2007 Costa Book Award

''What I Was''

* 2009 Der Luchs des Jahres * Finalist 2008 Carnegie Medal * Finalist 2008 Costa Book Award * Finalist 2009 New Angle Prize

''The Bride's Farewell''

* 2010

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of th ...

* Finalist 2011 Carnegie Medal

''Picture Me Gone''

* Finalist 2013 U.S. National Book Award

= ''Good Dog McTavish''

= * Winner 2020 Premio Letteratura Ragazzi Prize

''The Great Godden''

* Finalist 2020 Costa Awards *Winner 2021 Orbil prize (awarded by the Italian association of independent bookshops) * YA Book Prize finalist 2021 * School Reading List book of the month June 2020

References

External links

*
Meg Rosoff at Macmillan

Meg Rosoff at Fantasticfiction

at Jean Book Nerd (February 2012) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosoff, Meg 1956 births Living people Novelists from Boston American children's writers Jewish American children's writers Jewish women writers Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art Harvard University alumni Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners Michael L. Printz Award winners Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature American women children's writers American women writers of young adult literature American writers of young adult literature American expatriates in England Novelists from London 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Jews from Massachusetts Jewish American novelists