Akemi Dawn Bowman

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Akemi Dawn Bowman
AkemiDawnBowmanSigningbooksatALA2018.png
Bowman autographing a book at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards in 2018
Born United States
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
EducationBA in social science
Alma materUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas
Genre Young Adult fiction, Middle Grade fiction
Years active2017-now
Notable worksStarfish, Summer Bird Blue, Harley in the Sky, The Infinity Courts series, Generation Misfits
Notable awards2018 William C. Morris Award Finalist, 2022 Locus Award Finalist
Website
www.akemidawnbowman.com

Akemi Dawn Bowman [1] is an American author, best known for her William C. Morris Award Finalist young adult novel Starfish, which follows a Japanese-American teenager named Kiko Himura who grapples with a toxic home life and attempts to find a back-up plan after being rejected for a place at her dream art school. [2] Bowman's earlier work centered around realistic fiction, but she now writes across genres, starting with her sci-fi series The Infinity Courts which was released in April 2021. [3]

Contents

Personal life

Bowman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, when she was a toddler. [1] Her father is from Hawaii [4] and has Japanese and Chinese heritage, and her mother is mostly Italian and Irish. [1] Bowman was home-schooled for four years, [5] and attended the Las Vegas Academy as a band major in high school. [1] After graduating, she served with the United States Navy for five years. [6] She started writing her first full-length novel while on deployment. [6] She has a degree in social studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. [1]

Bowman credits music as one of her big writing inspirations and had flute and piano lessons when she was younger. [5] She often centers mental health in her novels because of her own experiences growing up. [7]

In addition to writing novels, Bowman has written short fiction for the Magic: The Gathering online web story "Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty". [8]

She currently[ when? ] lives in Scotland with her family. [6]

Works

Novels

Short stories

Accolades

Starred reviews

Honors

Starfish, Summer Bird Blue and Generation Misfits were each named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. [26] Bowman's first middle-grade novel Generation Misfits was featured on the July/August 2021 cover of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, [25] and received a Big Picture honor and a starred review. [27] Starfish was chosen as a New York Public Library 2017 Best Book for Teens, [28] and Summer Bird Blue was chosen for the same honor in 2018. [29] Paste magazine called Starfish "the best debut YA novel the year" in 2017, [30] and later declared it one of the top 30 young adult books of the 2010s. [31] In 2021, Harley in the Sky was named a top pick for the Kansas NEA Reading Circle List High School Title. [32] Locus magazine included The Infinity Courts in its annual Recommended Reading List for the year 2021. [33]

Awards

Won

Nominated

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References

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  2. Emma Carbone (24 January 2018). "2018 Morris Award Finalists: An Interview with Akemi Dawn Bowman on Starfish". The Hub. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  3. Tami Orendain (April 2021). "The Infinity Courts". BookPage. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  4. "My Favourite Holiday: Hawaii is more than a getaway for author Akemi Dawn Bowman . . . it's home". Sunday Post. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 Samantha Lumetta (7 July 2021). "Akemi Dawn Bowman Explores J-pop and Found Family in Her Middle Grade Debut". School Library Journal. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Jenny Morrison (15 March 2020). "Too polite to tun down US Navy.. but it helped me launch a fantastic new chapter in my life". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 6 August 2023 via Press Reader.
  7. Robin Willis (9 March 2020). ""A Place at the Table" a guest post by Akemi Dawn Bowman". School Library Journal. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  8. "Kaito Origin Stories: A Test of Loyalty & The Path Forward". 16 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
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  27. Deborah Stevenson (July 2021). "July/August 2021 Stars & Big Picture". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
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