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Meredith Russo

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Meredith Russo
Meredith Russo
OccupationAuthor
Years active2016–present
Notable workIf I Was Your Girl
AwardsStonewall Book Award (2017)

Meredith Russo (born c. 1986/1987)[1] is an American young adult author from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Personal life

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Russo is a transgender woman who transitioned in late 2013.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

Career

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Russo's debut young adult novel, If I Was Your Girl, published in 2016 by Flatiron Books.[5] If I Was Your Girl is about a transgender girl going to a new school and falling in love with a boy.[6] If I Was Your Girl won the Stonewall Book Award for the Young Adult category in 2017[7] and the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature in 2017.[8] It also received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews,[9] Publishers Weekly,[10] and Booklist.[11]

Her next young adult novel, Birthday, was published by Flatiron Books in 2019 and is a follow-up to If I Was Your Girl, following two teenagers whose lives intersect starting from their 13th birthdays.[12]

Russo also contributed several short stories and essays to anthologies published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,[13] Vintage,[14] and Algonquin.[15]

The different characters of her stories are based on people she met during her life or from her own personal experience.[16]

In an interview, she said that she has been inspired by a lot of comics, manga,[17] and fiction.[18]

Bibliography

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Novels

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Young adult

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Short stories and essays

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  • 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, 2018)
  • in Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, edited by Jennifer L. Armentrout (HMH, 2018)
  • Horror Stories from Meredith Russo's website[19]
  • Meltdown from Meredith Russo's website[19]

Awards

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Won

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2017

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Nominations

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2017

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References

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  1. ^ "Chattanooga transgender woman lands $100,000 book deal". timesfreepress.com. 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  2. ^ "Meredith Russo | Authors | Macmillan". US Macmillan. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  3. ^ "Author Meredith Russo just wants a book where good things happen to transgender people". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  4. ^ Russo, Meredith (24 May 2016). "Opinion | What It Feels Like to Use the Wrong Bathroom". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  5. ^ Wren (2016-06-19). "If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo – review". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  6. ^ "Teens Review Meredith Russo's". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  7. ^ a b Jamundsen (2017-01-24). "2017 Stonewall Book Awards Announced". News and Press Center. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  8. ^ a b "March: Book Three Wins 2017 Walter Dean Myers Award". The Booklist Reader. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  9. ^ If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo | Kirkus Reviews.
  10. ^ "Children's Book Review: If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. Flatiron, $17.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-250-07840-7". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  11. ^ If I Was Your Girl, by Meredith Russo | Booklist Online. Retrieved 2018-11-23 – via www.booklistonline.com.
  12. ^ "Book Deals: Week of October 24, 2016". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  13. ^ "meet cute publishers weekly – Google Search". www.google.de. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  14. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times by Edited by Carolina De Robertis. Vintage, $15.95 trade paper (272p) ISBN 978-0-525-43513-6". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  15. ^ (Don't) Call Me Crazy by Kelly Jensen | Kirkus Reviews.
  16. ^ "Meredith Russo". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  17. ^ Speak on It | Meredith Russo, 5 August 2020, retrieved 2021-05-04
  18. ^ sibookdragon (2016-04-21). "Author Interview: Meredith Russo [in Shelf Awareness]". BookDragon. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  19. ^ a b "FREE STORIES". Meredith Russo. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  20. ^ "29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2021-04-22.