Rainbow Rowell (born February 24, 1973) is an American author known for young adult and adult contemporary novels. Her young adult novels ''

Eleanor & Park ''Eleanor & Park'' is the first young adult novel written by Rainbow Rowell. Published in 2012, the story follows dual narratives by Eleanor and Park, two misfits living in Omaha, Nebraska from 1986 to 1987. Eleanor, a chubby 16-year-old girl wit ...

'' (2012), ''

Fangirl A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration for something or somebody, such as a celebrity, a sport, a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie, a ...

'' (2013) and '' Carry On'' (2015) have been subjects of critical acclaim. She was the writer of the 2017 revival of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

' '' Runaways'' and is currently the writer for

She-Hulk She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 ( cover-dated February ...

Career

Rowell was a columnist and ad copywriter at the ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...

'' from 1995 to 2012. After leaving her position as a columnist, Rowell began working for an ad agency and writing what would become her first published novel, ''Attachments'', as a pastime. Rowell gave birth to her first son during this period and paused work on the manuscript for two years. The novel, a contemporary romantic comedy about a company's IT guy who falls in love with a woman whose email he has been monitoring, was published in 2011. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' listed it as one of the outstanding debuts that year. In 2013, Rowell published the young adult novel ''

''. It and her novel ''

'' were both named by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as among the best young adult fiction of the year. ''Eleanor & Park'' was also chosen by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

as one of the 10 best books of 2013, and as

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

' best young adult fiction of the year. In 2014, DreamWorks optioned ''Eleanor & Park'', and Rowell worked on a screenplay, but in 2016, Rowell said the option timed out and the rights reverted to her. In 2019, it was announced that Picturestart had acquired the film rights, with Rowell writing the screenplay and executive producing. Rowell's work garnered some negative attention in 2013 when a parents' group at a Minnesota high school challenged ''Eleanor & Park'' and Rowell was disinvited to a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

event; a panel ultimately determined that the book could stay on library shelves. Rowell noted in an interview that the material that these parents were calling " profane" was what many kids in difficult situations realistically had to deal with, and that "when these people call ''Eleanor & Park'' an obscene story, I feel like they’re saying that rising above your situation isn’t possible." In January 2014, Rowell signed a two-book deal with

First Second First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It al ...

to author two young adult

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, the first of which will be illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks. Rowell's fourth novel, ''

Landline A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which us ...

'', a contemporary adult novel about a marriage in trouble, was released on July 8, 2014. In 2013 Rowell published the young adult novel ''

'' about a girl who is interested in a fictional book series about a boy mage named Simon Snow who attends a magical school called Watford. Rowell later created a real trilogy of books based on the fictional books from ''Fangirl.'' Her 2015 book '' Carry On'' is set as the eighth book in the series, in which Simon, in his eighth year at school, struggles to come to terms with his calling as the Chosen One meant to destroy the Insidious Humdrum, a magical force destroying the world of mages. He embarks on his quest with his best friend Penelope and his girlfriend Agatha, all the while "struggling" with Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Grimm-Pitch, his vampire "nemesis." It is influenced by

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, setti ...

, particularly the popularity of fan fiction of the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

'' series by J.K. Rowling. Rowell's 2019 novel '' Wayward Son'' and her 2021 book ''Any Way the Wind Blows'' are also Simon Snow books.

Personal life

Rowell lives in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

, with her husband and two sons. She has a sister named Jade and a half sister, Abby, who owns a popular local coffee chain in Omaha, NE.

Bibliography

Young adult

* ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2013) *Simon Snow Series ** '' Carry On'' (2015) ** '' Wayward Son'' (2019) **''Any Way the Wind Blows'' (2021)

Adult

* '' Attachments'' (2011) * ''

'' (2014)

Short fiction collections

*''Almost Midnight'' (2017): Compilation of two short stories: Midnights and Kindred Spirits. *''Scattered Showers'' (2022)

Short fiction

* "Midnights", '' My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories'', ed.

Stephanie Perkins Stephanie Perkins is an American author, known for her books '' Anna and the French Kiss'', ''Lola and the Boy Next Door'', The New York Times bestseller ''Isla and the Happily Ever After'' and '' There's Someone Inside Your House'', the latter of ...

(2014) * ''Kindred Spirits'' (World Book Day Edition) (2016) *''The Prince and the Troll'' (2020) *''If the Fate Allows'' (2021)

Comic books

* '' Runaways'', illustrated by Kris Anka (2017-2021) *''Pumpkinheads'', illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks (2019) * ''

'', illustrated by Rogê Antônio (2022)

References

External links

Rainbow Rowell's Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Rainbow Living people 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American women novelists American writers of young adult literature Place of birth missing (living people) Writers from Nebraska 21st-century American women writers 1973 births American women children's writers Women writers of young adult literature Women science fiction and fantasy writers