Adam Gidwitz (born February 14, 1982) is the author of the best selling

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

''A Tale Dark and Grimm'' (2010), ''In a Glass Grimmly'' (2012), and ''The Grimm Conclusion'' (2013), all published by Dutton Books for Young Readers, an imprint of

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

. He received a 2017

Newbery Honor Newbery is a surname. People *Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver *David Newbery (born 1943), British economist *Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot *Francis Newbery (disambiguation), seve ...

for '' The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog'' (2016). In 2021, his book ''A Tale Dark and Grimm'' was adapted into an animated miniseries on Netflix.

Early life

He was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1982 but grew up in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. His grandfather, Willard Gidwitz, was a president at

Helene Curtis Helene Curtis Industries, Inc. was an American cosmetics and beauty parlor products firm based in Chicago. The company acquired a hair-coloring line through the acquisition of a competitor business. Later the retailer diversified into the field of p ...

. Through his father's family, he is also related to Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate and Trump appointee

Ronald Gidwitz Ronald J. Gidwitz (born March 28, 1945) is an American businessman, diplomat, and political candidate who served as United States Ambassador to Belgium, while also serving as acting United States Ambassador to the European Union. Gidwitz is the ...

. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he majored in English literature and spent his junior year abroad in the university's Oxford/Cambridge Scholars program. After college he became a teacher at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn. He credits a stint as a substitute librarian as the inspiration for writing The Grimm Trilogy. He now lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, with his wife, writing full-time.

Awards and Recognitions

''A Tale Dark and Grimm'' was named a

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 ...

Editor's Choice, A

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 B ...

Best Children's Book of the Year (2010), a

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

Best Children's Book of the Year (2010), and a 2010

ALA Notable Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (est ...

. An animated series based on the book was one of the top ten most watched shows for kids on Netflix in October 2021. ''The Inquisitor's Tale Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog'' was awarded a Newbery Honor on January 23, 2017. The book also received the

Sydney Taylor Book Award The Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature. Medals are awarded annually for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. The award was established in 1968 by the Association of Jewish L ...

for Older Readers in 2017.

Bibliography

* '' A Tale Dark and Grimm''. New York:

Dutton Penguin E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

, 2010. * ''In a Glass Grimmly''. New York:

, 2012. * ''The Grimm Conclusion''. New York:

, 2013. * ''The Empire Strikes Back - So You Want to Be a Jedi''. Los Angeles, Disney Lucasfilm Press, 2015. * '' The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog''. New York:

, 2016. * ''The Creature of the Pines'' (The Unicorn Rescue Society, #1). Illustrated by Hatem Aly. New York:

, 2018. * ''The Basque Dragon'' (The Unicorn Rescue Society, #2). Co-authored by Jesse Casey. Illustrated by Hatem Aly. New York:

, 2018. * ''Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot'' (The Unicorn Rescue Society, #3). Co-authored by

Joseph Bruchac Joseph Bruchac (born October 16, 1942) is an American writer and storyteller based in New York. He writes about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He ...

. Illustrated by Hatem Aly. New York:

, 2018. * ''The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande'' (The Unicorn Rescue Society, #4). Co-authored by David Bowles. Illustrated by Hatem Aly. New York:

, 2019. (Forthcoming.)

References

External links

* * ''The New York Times'', "When Stories Had Sharp Teeth

* American Library Association Notable Book Lis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gidwitz, Adam 1982 births Living people Writers from California American children's writers Park School of Baltimore alumni People from San Francisco Columbia College (New York) alumni