Pat Schmatz

Schmatz grew up in rural Wisconsin.{{Cite web|url=http://booksnob-booksnob.blogspot.com/2015/07/pat-schmatz-author-interview-giveaway.html|title=Pat Schmatz Author Interview + Giveaway|last=Booksnob|first=Laura|date=2015-07-30|website=Book Snob|access-date=2018-11-26}} They read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in sixth grade, which made them decide that they wanted to start writing for children.{{Cite news |title=Bluefish by Pat Schmatz - Interview {{!}} BookPage |language=en |work=BookPage.com |url=https://bookpage.com/interviews/8742-pat-schmatz-childrens#.W_xcODhKiUk |access-date=2018-11-26}}{{Cite news|url=https://elizabethcaulfieldfelt.com/2015/10/15/interview-with-author-pat-schmatz/|title=Interview with Author Pat Schmatz|date=2015-10-15|work=Elizabeth Caulfield Felt|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en-US}}

Their second novel and first young adult book, Mousetraps, tells the story of a teen dealing with homophobia and bullying after her childhood best friend who suddenly disappeared turns up again.{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/pat-schmatz/mousetraps/|title=MOUSETRAPS by Pat Schmatz, Bill Hauser {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en-us}} It was published in 2008 by Carolrhoda and a nominee for the Lambda Literary Award in Children's/Young Adult in 2008.{{Cite news|url=http://www.lambdaliterary.org/winners-finalists/02/18/lambda-literary-awards-2008-2/|title=21st Annual Lambda Literary Awards|last=Cerna|first=Antonio Gonzalez|date=2010-02-18|work=Lambda Literary|access-date=2018-11-11|language=en-US}}

Bluefish, their fourth novel, is about a boy moving to a new town where he lives with his alcoholic grandpa. He is befriended by a difficult and hilarious classmate who helps him see things in a new way.{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/pat-schmatz/bluefish/|title=BLUEFISH by Pat Schmatz {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en-us}} It was published by Candlewick in 2011 and received several starred reviews.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hbook.com/2011/12/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-bluefish/|title=Review of Bluefish|date=2011-12-07|work=The Horn Book|access-date=2018-11-11|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780763653347J|title=Junior Library Guild : Bluefish by Pat Schmatz|website=www.juniorlibraryguild.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-11}}{{Cite journal|last=Coats|first=Karen|date=2011-09-18|title=Bluefish (review)|journal=Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books|language=en|volume=65|issue=2|pages=106–107|doi=10.1353/bcc.2011.0717|s2cid=201770795|issn=1558-6766}} Bluefish was a nominee for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award in 2013{{Cite web|url=https://libraries.vermont.gov/services/children_and_teens/book_awards/dcf|title=Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award {{!}} Department of Libraries|website=libraries.vermont.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-11-11|archive-date=2019-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326224350/https://libraries.vermont.gov/services/children_and_teens/book_awards/dcf|url-status=dead}} and the California Young Reader Medal for Middle School/Junior High in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.californiayoungreadermedal.org/nominees/|title=Nominees|website=California Young Reader Medal|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-11}} It won the Crystal Kite Award in 2012{{Cite web|url=http://scbwi.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-2012-crystal-kite-winner-profiles_31.html|title=The Official SCBWI Blog: The 2012 Crystal Kite Winner Profiles: Wisconsin's PAT SCHMATZ|last=M.ed|first=Lee Wind|date=2012-07-31|website=The Official SCBWI Blog|access-date=2018-11-11}} and the Josette Frank Award in 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/awards/|title=Awards - Bank Street College of Education|work=Bank Street College of Education|access-date=2018-11-11|language=en-US}}

Schmatz's fifth novel, Lizard Radio, is set in a world just slightly tilted from our own, where teens have to commit to a gender and "benders" are dealt with harshly.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7636-7635-3|title=Children's Book Review: Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz. Candlewick, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-7636-7635-3|work=PublishersWeekly.com|access-date=2018-11-11|language=en}} In the novel, a fifteen-year-old bender teen struggles in a culture that tries to define everyone by strict binaries. It was published by Candlewick in 2015.{{Cite journal|last=Spisak|first=April|date=2015-11-12|title=Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz (review)|journal=Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books|language=en|volume=69|issue=4|pages=222|doi=10.1353/bcc.2015.0919|s2cid=201783431|issn=1558-6766}} Lizard Radio won the James Tiptree Jr. Award in 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://tiptree.org/award/2015-james-tiptree-jr-award|title=2015 James Tiptree, Jr. Award « James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award|website=James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award|date=17 February 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepiratetree.com/2015/09/01/interview-with-pat-schmatz-about-lizard-radio/|title=Interview with Pat Schmatz About Lizard Radio – The Pirate Tree|website=www.thepiratetree.com|date=September 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-26}}

Young adult fiction

• Mousestraps (Carolrhoda, 2008)
• Circle the Truth (Carolrhoda, 2010)
• Lizard Radio (Candlewick, 2015)

Middle grade fiction

• Mrs. Estronsky and the U.F.O. (Little Blue Works, 2001)
• Bluefish (Candlewick, 2011)
• The Key to Every Thing (Candlewick, 2018)

Won

2012

• Crystal Kite Award for Bluefish (Candlewick, 2011)

2015

• James Tiptree Jr. Award for Lizard Radio (Candlewick, 2015){{Cite web|url=https://tiptree.org/2016/04/2015-winners-and-honor-list-announced|title=2015 Winners, Honor List, and Long List Announced! « James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award|last=Notkin|first=Debbie|date=2016-04-01|website=James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-09}}
• Josette Frank Award for Bluefish (Candlewick, 2011)

2019

• Minnesota Book Award for "The Key to Every Thing."

Nominations

2008

• Lambda Literary Award in Children's/Young Adult for Mousestraps (Carolrhoda, 2008)

2013

• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award for Bluefish (Candlewick, 2011)

2015

• California Young Reader Medal for Middle School/Junior High for Bluefish (Candlewick, 2011)

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{{James Tiptree Jr. Award Winners}}

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Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:American transgender writers

Category:American non-binary writers

Category:Michigan State University alumni

Category:Novelists from Wisconsin

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)