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

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel ''

How I Live Now ''How I Live Now'' is a novel by Meg Rosoff, first published in 2004. It received generally positive reviews and won the British Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the American Printz Award for young-adult literature. Plot Fifteen-year-o ...

'' (Puffin, 2004), which won the

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

Printz Award Printz is a surname and may refer to: People * Armegot Printz (1625–1695), Swedish noblewoman, daughter of Johan Björnsson Printz * David Printz (born 1980), Swedish ice hockey player * Gisèle Printz (born 1933), French politician * Göran P ...

, and

Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is sha ...

and made the

Whitbread Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

shortlist. Her second novel, ''

Just in Case Just-in-case manufacturing (JIC) is a term sometimes applied to traditional manufacturing systems used before the influence of modern technologies and newer transportation infrastructures. It is the contrary in many ways to the recently evolve ...

'' (Penguin, 2006), won the annual Carnegie Medal from the

British librarians British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

recognising the year's best children's book published in the UK.

Early life and education

Rosoff was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

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

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an 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 became part of t ...

. She returned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to finish her degree in 1980, and later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

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 cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. Her

young-adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

'' was published in 2004, in the same week she 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 annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...

, and the annual

Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's y ...

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, with 49,727 members a ...

, 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 Sophie Jocasta Blackall is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of children's books based in Brooklyn, New York. Early life and education Blackall was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1970. In 1992, Blackall earned a Bachelor of Des ...

. ''

'', published in 2006, won the British Carnegie Medal and German Jugendliteraturpreis. ''

What I Was ''What I Was'' is Meg Rosoff's third novel for young adults. The book was published in 2007, and was shortlisted for both the Costa Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. Plot introduction ''What I Was'' tells the story of a secret ...

'', 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 writers".< ...

(U.S.).

The film The Film is a 2005 Indian thriller film directed by Junaid Memon also produced along with Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film stars Mahima Chaudhry, Khalid Siddiqui, Ananya Khare, Chahat Khanna, Ravi Gossain, Vaibhav Jhalani and Vivek Madan in lea ...

of ''How I Live Now'' directed by Kevin MacDonald and starring

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( , ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas since adolescence, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations fo ...

opened in Britain on 4 October 2013 and in America and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on 5 November 2013. 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

* ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) * ''

'' (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 George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(2014) *

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award ( sv, Litteraturpriset till Astrid Lindgrens minne) is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–200 ...

(2016) *Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge

Individual book awards

''How I Live Now''

* 2004

* 2005

(US) * 2005

(first novel) * 2005 Der Luchs des Jahres * Finalist for 2005

LA Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, biography, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, current interest, ...

* 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 The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

* Finalist 2007 LA Times Book Prize * Finalist 2007

Booktrust Teenage Prize The Booktrust Teenage Prize was an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize was administered by Book Trust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading. The Booktrust Teenage Prize was last awarded in ...

* Finalist 2007

Costa Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

''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". Essentially, the award is a listing by the American Library Association parallel to its annual Best Books for Young A ...

* 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 Writers from Boston American children's writers Jewish American 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 Women writers of young adult literature American expatriates in England Writers from London 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Massachusetts