All about wendy mass biography information

Thirteen-year-old Mia Winchell discovers that she has a rare neurological condition called synesthesia. The most common variety is called lexical synesthesia, which is where letters and numbers each have individual colors. Mia's struggles with math and Spanish, a consequence of her condition, eventually prove too much for her, and she must seek help from her parents and a sympathetic doctor.

A Mango-shaped Space was well received by critics. A Publishers Weekly contributor remarked that the book's "well-defined characterizations, natural-sounding dialogue, and concrete imagery allow readers to feel Mia's emotions and see through her eyes a kaleidoscopic world. Leap Day concerns Josie, a sixteen year old who, having been born on February 29th, is celebrating only her fourth "official" birthday.

During this busy day, Josie plans to take her driver's test, audition for the school play, and join her friends on a scavenger hunt. Leap Day employs a dual narrative: Josie's version of events is interspersed with third-person accounts that describe the same incidents from another perspective. According to Michele Winship in Kliatt, "Readers get to see beyond Josie's point of view and find out the motivations and inner thoughts of the people she interacts with throughout her birthday.

Brabander called Leap Day a work "that highlights the potentially life-altering results of our most fleeting daily interactions. An important birthday is also central to the plot of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. Here cautious Manhattan preteen Jeremy will turn thirteenth within the month when he received an interesting box in the mail.

Made of wood and with four locks no keys, the box was made by Jeremy's dad five years before, just before the man's untimely death when Jeremy was eight. Along with instructions to open the box on his upcoming birthday, Jeremy is also informed that the box contains the meaning of life. Determined to honor his late father's wishes—and satisfy his own growing curiosity—Jeremy and adventurous friend Lizzy go on a quest to find the four missing keys before the sun sets on his thirteenth birthday.

Featuring what a Publishers Weekly critic described as a "exquisitely executed plot twist, combined with an ending that requires a few tissues," Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life is a "soulful novel one not to miss. The junior year of unhappy high-schooler Tessa Reynolds yields both ups and downs in Mass's verse novel Heaven Looks a Lot like the Mall.

Hit in the head by a ball during gym class, Tessa suffers a coma and re-experiences important times in her own short life. While wandering through a heaven that looks a lot like the local shopping mall, Tessa finds that each storefront reveals another of the mean-spirited acts and poor choices that comprise her past. Her unconscious experiences prompt the comatose teen to evaluate her life from a fresh perspective and realize the potential that still exists for a more positive future.

Writing that the author "takes a chance by offering readers an unlikable protagonist" in the angry and dishonest Tessa, Booklist critic Ilene Cooper asserted that Heaven Looks a Lot like the Mall is an "emotionally realistic novel [that] will resonate with many" teens. Mass introduces readers to three unusual tweens in Every Soul a Star, a novel for middle-grade readers that alternates first-person narratives with interesting facts about astronomy.

The youngest of the three, twelve-year-old Ally, enjoys puzzles and anything to do with astronomy. She also loves living at the Moon Shadow Campground, which her family owns. Popular and pretty, Bree is thirteen and needs a mall nearby to survive. To her horror, her academic parents have decided to purchase Moon Shadow. Jack is also thirteen, but unlike Bree, he is gawky and overweight and also failing his favorite science class.

When the three children meet up at the campground amidst a gathering of hundreds of people hoping to witness a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse, the friendships they form change each of their lives for the better.

All about wendy mass biography information

Commenting on the novel, Hazel Rochman commented in Booklist that "Bree's hilarious account of her experience as a glamour queen in the wilderness is right-on. Leo and Amanda used to be best friends until Amanda overheard Leo joking about her with his friends. Now, after a year-long falling out, the friendship is rekindled when the two preteens become stuck in time in 11 Birthdays, another middle-grade novel by Mass.

Praising the book's "winning story," a Publishers Weekly contributor added that the author's "expertise with pacing keeps the story moving at a lively clip, and her understanding of this age group is … finely honed. Asked by Rowe why she chooses to write for teenagers, Mass explained, "When I was that age, reading was such a huge part of my life.

I wouldn't be the same person today if I didn't have those wonderful stories living inside my head. It seems to me that those years, between ten and fourteen, are when kids figure out what kind of person they want to be-both inside and outside, and how they want to live their life. Brabander, review of A Mango-shaped Space, p. Brabander, review of Leap Day, p.

Brabander, review of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, p. Brabander, review of Every Soul a Star, p. LaRue, review of Leap Day, pp. Mass, a former book editor who co-created Writes of Passage, a literary journal for teens, earned the Schneider Family Book Award from In this novel Wendy Mass paints a fascinating portrait of a teen with an unusual take on the world: each sound she hears creates a specific color in her mind.

She is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel Leap Day, published in After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in English, Mass moved to Los Angeles, California, to work in the entertainment industry. She later attended graduate school, where she made the decision to write for children and young adults. Moving back east, wher she began her career in publishing, Mass was soon afforded the opportunity to write nonfiction.

In Ray Bradbury, Mass "presents a well-organized biography of the writer," according to Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan. In A Mango-shaped Space Mass introduces a protagonist who sees the world in an unusual way. Thirteen-year-old Mia Winchell discovers that she has a rare neurological condition called synesthesia. The most common variety is called lexical synesthesia, which is where letters and numbers each have individual colors.

For instance, someone with this condition might say that the letter 'A' has a sunflower yellow tint with a crumbly feel to it. In other projects. Wikidata item. American novelist. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous.

Early life [ edit ]. College [ edit ]. Honors and awards [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. Works [ edit ]. Non-fiction [ edit ]. Fiction [ edit ]. TV scripts [ edit ]. References [ edit ].