Meredith Russo (born c. 1986/1987) is an American

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

author from

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Personal life

Russo is a transgender woman who transitioned in late 2013. Her debut young adult novel ''If I Was Your Girl'' is the first widely distributed young adult book about transgender teens written by a transgender woman. It was inspired by Russo's life. She wanted to write a book about a transgender character with a happy ending. In addition to her literary efforts, she campaigns heavily for HIV awareness and de-stigmatization.

Career

Russo's debut young adult novel, ''If I Was Your Girl,'' published in 2016 by

Flatiron Books Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

. ''If I Was Your Girl'' is about a transgender girl going to a new school and falling in love with a boy. ''If I Was Your Girl'' won the

Stonewall Book Award The Stonewall Book Award is a set of three literary awards that annually recognize "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" in English-language books published in the U.S. They are sponsored by the Rainbo ...

for the Young Adult category in 2017 and the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature in 2017. It also received a starred review from

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

, and

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

. Her next young adult novel, ''Birthday'', was published by

in 2019 and is a follow-up to ''If I Was Your Girl'', following two teenagers whose lives intersect starting from their 13th birthdays. Russo also contributed several short stories and essays to anthologies published by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was fo ...

, Vintage, and

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

. The different characters of her stories are based on people she met during her life or from her own personal experience. In an interview, she said that she has been inspired by a lot of comics, manga, and fiction.

Bibliography

Novels

Young adult

* ''If I Was Your Girl'' (

Flatiron Flatiron or flat iron may refer to various things, often in the shape of a wedge: Objects *Clothes iron *Hair iron Places *Flatiron Building, New York City, at the intersection of 5th & Broadway **Flatiron District, New York City, named after ...

, 2016) * ''Birthday'' (

, 2019)

Short stories and essays

* in ''Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times,'' edited by Carolina De Robertis (Vintage, 2017) * in ''(Don't) Call me Crazy'', edited by Kelly Jensen (

Algonquin Books Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American publisher of trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company consists of imprints Workman, Workman Children's, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonquin Young R ...

, 2018) * in ''Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet'', edited by Jennifer L. Armentrout ( HMH, 2018) *''Horror Stories'' from Meredith Russo's website *''Meltdown'' from Meredith Russo's website

Awards

Won

2017

in the Children's and Young Adult Literature category for ''If I Was Your Girl'' (

, 2016) *

Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers (born Walter Milton Myers; August 12, 1937 – July 1, 2014) was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Harlem, New York City ...

Award for Outstanding Children's Literature for ''If I Was Your Girl'' (

, 2016)

Nominations

2017

* Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee for ''If I Was Your Girl'' (

, 2016) *

Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with transgender content. Awards are granted based on literary merit and transgender content, and the ...

for ''If I Was Your Girl'' (

, 2016)

References

Transgender women writers LGBTQ people from Tennessee Living people 1980s births Novelists from Tennessee Writers from Chattanooga, Tennessee American LGBTQ novelists Stonewall Book Award winners Transgender novelists American transgender writers American HIV/AIDS activists American transgender women Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-novelist-1980s-stub