Biography
King was born March 10, 1970, in Reading, Pennsylvania.[2] She graduated from Exeter Township Senior High School in 1988,[3] earned a degree in photography at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, and then moved to Dublin, Ireland, where she began writing novels in 1994. After two years in Dublin, she relocated to Tipperary, where she renovated a farm and taught literacy to adults.[4] She returned to Pennsylvania in 2004 and published her first novel, The Dust of 100 Dogs, in 2009, after fifteen years of writing.
Career
King is the author of numerous young adult books that have earned her recognition as "one of the best YA writers working today" by The New York Times Book Review. Her work is known for bridging the gap between young adult and adult readers.[4] She also writes acclaimed middle grade novels under her full name, Amy Sarig King. Her short fiction for adults has been widely published and nominated for Best New American Voices.[4]
Teaching, presentations, and public appearances
King is a former faculty member of the Writing for Children and Young Adults Master of Fine Arts program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.[4] An experienced teacher and presenter, King spends many months of the year traveling the U.S. for school visits, conferences, workshops, and literary festivals.[5] King devotes much of her time and platform to mental health advocacy. In her presentations, she often centers topics such as life skills, emotions, bullying, self-esteem, safe relationships, and trauma.[6]
Awards and honors
In 2015, King was named the "Outstanding Pennsylvania Author" for that year by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Associations; all of her novels are set in the state.[7] In 2022, she won the American Library Association's Margaret Edwards Award,[8][9] which recognizes an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." In 2024, King was awarded the YALSA's Michael L. Printz Award,[10] for the anthology The Collectors: Stories — the first time an anthology has won the award and the first time an author has won the award twice.
Awards and honors for individual books are listed below.
The Dust of 100 Dogs
Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a Junior Library Guild book.[13] Kirkus Reviews named the book one of the best books for teens in 2010,[13] and Bank Street College of Education included it on their list of the Best Books of 2011 for Ages 14 and Up.[14]
Monica Never Shuts Up
Monica Never Shuts Up was nominated for 2010 Best New American Voices, Short Fiction.[citation needed]
Everybody Sees the Ants
Everybody Sees the Ants is a Junior Library Guild book.[21]
Ask the Passengers
Ask the Passengers is a Junior Library Guild book.[25] The book was named one of the best young adult books of the year by Kirkus Reviews[26] and Publishers Weekly.[27] Andrew Harwell of HarperCollins Children’s Books also favorited Ask the Passengers for 2013, stating,
To my mind, King falls in a camp with George Saunders as a writer who flouts conventions of genre and structure out of a sense that the world is full of meaning, but it is also totally crazy. King’s books repeatedly stretch the boundaries of YA fiction, and are always grounded by their unflinching looks at real, imperfect families. So while I would be hard-pressed to say which of her books was my favorite read in 2013, it would definitely be one of them, and I think that says it all.[28]
Reality Boy
Reality Boy is a Junior Library Guild book.[36] Kirkus Reviews[37] and Publishers Weekly[38] named it one of the best books of the year. In 2014, the American Library Association selected it for their "Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" list.[39]
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future is a Junior Library Guild book.[40] The Boston Globe,[41] Bustle,[42] Kirkus Reviews,[43] the Los Angeles Public Library,[40] the New York Public Library,[44] Publishers Weekly,[45] and School Library Journal[46] named it one of the best young adult books of 2014. It was also named a New York Times Editor's Choice and Booklist Editors’ Choice book.
I Crawl Through It
I Crawl Through It is a Junior Library Guild book.[52] Booklist,[53] The Horn Book Magazine,[54][55] and VOYA[52] named it one of the best novels of the year.
Still Life with Tornado
Both the book and audiobook versions of Still Life with Tornado are Junior Library Guild selections.[56][57] The New York Times,[56] Publishers Weekly,[58] School Library Journal,[56] Shelf Awareness[59] named it one of the best young adult novels of the year.
Me and Marvin Gardens
The Washington Post[65] and Chicago Public Library[66] named Me and Marvin Gardens one of the best books of the year. It is a 2018-2019 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List selection,[67] 2018-2019 Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Awards nominee,[68] and 2019 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award nominee.[69]
Dig
In 2019, The Horn Book Magazine named Dig one of the best novels of the year,[54] as did School Library Journal.[70]
The Year We Fell from Space
The Year We Fell from Space is a Junior Library Guild book.[75]
In 2019, The Horn Book Magazine named it one of the best novels of the year,[54] as didThe Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.[76] The American Library Association also included in on their 2020 Notable Children's Books list.[77]
Switch
BookPage[78] and the Chicago Public Library[79] named Switch one of the best young adult books of 2021. The Young Adult Library Services Association included it on their 2022 list of the Best Fiction for Young Adults.[80]
|2024
|Michael L. Printz Award
|Winner
|[18][81][20]
|}
