R. J. Palacio | |
|---|---|
 Palacio at the 2023 National Book Festival | |
| Born | Raquel Jaramillo July 13, 1963 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
Raquel Jaramillo Palacio (born July 13, 1963) is an American author and graphic designer. [1] [2] She is the author of several novels for children, including the best-selling Wonder , which was adapted into a 2017 film starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. [1] [3]
R.J. began her writing career as an illustrator, designing book covers for Paul Auster, Thomas Pynchon, and others. During the course of her career she designed many hundreds of book covers, covering both fiction and non-fiction books. She also illustrated several children's books that she wrote herself. [4] [5] For the first two decades of her career, she wrote books at night after her day job as a designer. [6] She illustrated her early books which were board books for children, published under the name Raquel Jaramillo. [3]
Following Wonder's international success, Palacio published several companion books to the novel. Published in 2014, 365 Days of Wonder is a collection of quotes or precepts that highlight kindness and goodness, interspersed with letters and emails written by the characters in Wonder. Auggie & Me (2015) comprises three short stories written about and from the perspectives of Auggie's friends, Christopher and Charlotte, and Auggie's nemesis, Julian. We’re All Wonders (2017) is a picture book for younger readers which tells Auggie’s story from his own perspective. Finally, White Bird (2019) is a graphic novel which tells the story of Julian's Grandmère when she was a young Jewish girl hidden from the Nazis by a family in France during World War II. [7] [8] White Bird , set to be released as a motion picture in October 2024, stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar (who originally starred as Julian in the Wonder film), Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren. [9]
In 2021, Random House announced that her new novel Pony would have a first printing of 500,000 copies. [6] It is her first novel not featuring the characters from the Wonder universe. [6]
Born in New York City as the daughter of Colombian immigrants, Palacio attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design and majored in designing at the Parsons School of Design. She spent a year at the American University of Paris, travelling widely throughout Europe, before returning to New York. [4] She currently lives in North Carolina together with her husband Russell Gordon, an executive art director at Simon and Schuster Children's Books, [10] and their two sons Caleb and Joseph. [11]
She was a recipient of the Christopher Award for Wonder in 2013, and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award in 2014. Wonder was on The New York Times Best Seller list and was also on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list. [12] [13] Wonder was the winner of the 2014 Maine Student Book Award, Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, the 2015 Mark Twain Award, Hawaii's 2015 Nene Award, the 2015 Young Hoosier Book Award, and the Junior Young Reader's Choice Award for 2015. [14] [15] [16] [17] In Illinois, it won both the Bluestem and Caudill Awards in 2014. [18]
Lois Ann Lowry is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for young audiences.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher was an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early 20th century. She strongly supported women's rights, racial equality, and lifelong education. Eleanor Roosevelt named her one of the ten most influential women in the United States. In addition to bringing the Montessori method of child-rearing to the U.S., she presided over the country's first adult education program and shaped literary tastes by serving as a member of the Book of the Month Club selection committee from 1925 to 1951.
Sonia Manzano is an American actress, screenwriter, and author. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 to 2015. She received a Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy Award in 2016.
Margaret Peterson Haddix is an American writer known best for the two children's series, Shadow Children (1998–2006) and The Missing (2008–2015). She also wrote the tenth volume in the multiple-author series The 39 Clues.
Catherine, Called Birdy is the first children's novel by Karen Cushman. It is a historical novel in diary format, set in 13th-century England. It was published in 1994, and won a Newbery Honor and Golden Kite Award in 1995.
Mary Downing Hahn is an American writer of young adult novels and a former school librarian. She is known for books such as Stepping On The Cracks and Wait Till Helen Comes. She published her first book in 1979 and has since written over 30 novels. Her novel What We Saw was published in September 2022.
Albert Watkins Key, Jr., publishing under the name Watt Key and Albert Key, is an American fiction author who is known for writing young-adult survival fiction. A resident of Alabama, his debut novel Alabama Moon was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2006 and was the 2007 winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for older readers. It received a 2006 Parents' Choice Award. Alabama Moon has been translated and published in eight languages. In 2015 Alabama Moon was listed by TIME Magazine as one of the top 100 young-adult books of all time.
Alexandra Bracken is an American author known for The Darkest Minds series and Passenger series.
Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature."
Wonder is a contemporary children's novel written by R. J. Palacio and published on 14 February 2012. Wonder is in part inspired by an incident where the author's son started to cry after noticing a girl with a severe facial deformity. Inspiration was also pulled from Natalie Merchant's song of the same name. Several spin-offs have been published, including 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts, We're All Wonders, Auggie and Me, and White Bird. A film adaptation was released in 2017, and a spin-off sequel film followed in 2024.
Michelle Knudsen is a New York Times best-selling American children's author. She has written 50 books for children, including the multiple-award-winning Library Lion, the Trelian middle grade fantasy trilogy, and the Evil Librarian young adult horror/comedy/romance trilogy.
Out of My Mind is a 2010 novel by Sharon M. Draper, a New York Times bestselling author. The cover illustration of the fifth edition is by Daniel Chang, and the cover photography is by Cyril Bruneau/Jupiter Images. A reading group guide is enclosed. The book is recommended for ages 10-14 and for grades 5–8. The story was written in first person, featuring Melody Brooks, a girl with cerebral palsy.
El Deafo is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Cece Bell. The book is a loose autobiographical account of Bell's childhood and life with her deafness. The characters in the book are all anthropomorphic bunnies. Cece Bell, in an interview with the Horn Book Magazine, states "What are bunnies known for? Big ears; excellent hearing," rendering her choice of characters and their deafness ironic.
Leigh Bardugo is an Israeli–American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows and King of Scars duologies. She also received acclaim for her paranormal fantasy adult debut, Ninth House. The Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series have been adapted into Shadow and Bone by Netflix, and Ninth House will be adapted by Amazon Studios; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.
Wonder is a 2017 American coming-of-age family comedy-drama directed by Stephen Chbosky, who co-wrote the screenplay with Steven Conrad and Jack Thorne. It is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio and stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Mandy Patinkin, and Daveed Diggs.
Kelly Barnhill is an American author of children's literature, fantasy, and science fiction. Her novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon was awarded the 2017 Newbery Medal. Kirkus Reviews named When Women Were Dragons one of the best science fiction and fantasy books of 2022.
Melissa Sweet is an American illustrator and writer of nearly 100 books for children and young readers.
Erin Entrada Kelly is an American writer of children's literature. She was awarded the 2018 John Newbery Medal by the Association for Library Service to Children for her third novel, Hello, Universe.
White Bird is a 2024 American coming-of-age period drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, based on the 2019 graphic novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio. Serving as both a prequel and sequel to Wonder (2017), the film stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren, with Gheisar reprising his role as Julian from Wonder.
The Terrible Two is a series of four novels aimed at tweeners. The two protagonists are Miles Murphy and Niles Sparks, who are in the same grade at the Yawnee Valley Science and Letters Academy. It is the local public school in Yawnee Valley, a town in a country area where the main industry appears to be dairy cattle. Originally rivals, Miles and Niles discover that they have a shared love of pranking, and begin to institute elaborate pranks, often aimed at the principal of the Yawnee Valley Science and Letters Academy, Barry Barkin.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
