Meg Rosoff
Meg Rosoff (born 16 October 1956) is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel How I Live Now (Puffin, 2004), which won the Guardian Prize, the Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award and made the Whitbread Awards shortlist. Her second novel, Just in Case (Penguin, 2006), won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians recognising the year's best children's book published in the UK.
Meg Rosoff

Unodotter · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Meg Rosoff
- Born
- 16 October 1956
- Birthplace
- Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Occupation
- Writer, novelist
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- young adult literature
- Education
- Saint Martin's School of Art · Harvard University
- Known for
- How I Live Now
- Honours
- Guardian Children's Fiction Prize · Michael L. Printz Award · Carnegie Medal · Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award · Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature · Branford Boase Award
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Meg Rosoff (born 16 October 1956) is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel How I Live Now (Puffin, 2004), which won the Guardian Prize, the Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award and made the Whitbread Awards shortlist. Her second novel, Just in Case (Penguin, 2006), won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians recognising the year's best children's book published in the UK.
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Meg Rosoff (born 1956) is an American author, children's writer and novelist, among other activities. The author was born in Boston.
Meg Rosoff studied at Harvard University and Saint Martin's School of Art. The author is a member of Royal Society of Literature. Meg Rosoff is active in young adult literature.
Works include How I Live Now. Languages used include English. The author received Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Branford Boase Award and Carnegie Medal, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q470302 · wikipedia · Meg Rosoff
In this article
Biography
Biography
Meg Rosoff studied at Saint Martin's School of Art and Harvard University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is young adult literature. Works named in the authority record are How I Live Now. Distinctions recorded are Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, Michael L. Printz Award, Carnegie Medal and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Meg Rossof on the Gothenburg Book Fair 2016
Bengt Oberger

Meg Rosoff Göteborgs Bokmässa 2016.
Agatefilm
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Meg Rosoff • Born — 16 October 1956 • Birthplace — Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. • Occupation — Writer, novelist • Language — English • Genre — Fiction
Early life and education
Early life and education
Rosoff was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1956, into a Jewish family.[1] She was the second of four sisters. She attended Harvard University from 1974 to 1977, then moved to London and studied sculpture at Saint Martin's School of Art. She returned to the United States to finish her degree in 1980, and later moved to New York City for 9 years, where she worked in publishing and advertising.
Career
Career
In 1989, at the age of 32 Rosoff returned to London and has lived there ever since. Between 1989 and 2003, she worked for a variety of advertising agencies as a copywriter. She began to write novels after her youngest sister died of breast cancer. Her young-adult novel How I Live Now was published in 2004, in the same week she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. It won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and the annual Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, recognising the year's "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". In 2005 she published a children's book, Meet Wild Boars, which was illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Just in Case, published in 2006, won the British Carnegie Medal and German Jugendliteraturpreis. What I Was, Rosoff's third novel, was published in August 2007, followed by two more collaborations with Blackall: Wild Boars Cook and Jumpy Jack and Googily. Another novel, The Brides Farewell, was named one of 2009's ten best books for young adults that were published in the American adult market. There Is No Dog, published by Penguin in 2011 (US edition, Putnam, 2012) is a comic novel supposing that God is a 19-year-old boy. Rosoff told Book Nerd, "The title comes from a joke about a dyslexic atheist walking up and down in front of a church with a sign that reads THERE IS NO DOG." Picture Me Gone was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award for Young People's Literature (U.S.). The film of How I Live Now, directed by Kevin MacDonald, opened in Britain on 4 October 2013 and in America and Canada on 5 November 2013.[2] It starred Saoirse Ronan and George MacKay and featured Tom Holland.[3] In 2016, Rosoff won the Astrid Lindgren memorial award and the largest cash prize in children's literature for her entire catalog of work.[4]
Novels
Novels
• How I Live Now (2004) • Just in Case (2006) • What I Was (2007) • The Bride's Farewell (2009) • Moose Baby (originally Vamoose) (2010) • There Is No Dog (2011) • Picture Me Gone (2013) • Jonathan Unleashed (2016) • The Great Godden (2020) • Friends Like These (2022)
Non-fiction
Non-fiction
• London Guide: your passport to great travel (Washington: Open Road, 1995), by Rosoff & Caren Acker
How I Live Now
How I Live Now
• 2004 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize • 2005 Michael L. Printz Award (US) • 2005 Branford Boase Award (first novel) • 2005 Der Luchs des Jahres • Finalist for 2005 LA Times Book Prize • Finalist 2005 Whitbread Children's Book Award • Finalist 2005 Orange First Novel prize • Finalist 2006 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
Just in Case
Just in Case
• 2007 Carnegie Medal • 2008 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis • Finalist 2007 LA Times Book Prize • Finalist 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize • Finalist 2007 Costa Book Award
What I Was
What I Was
• 2009 Der Luchs des Jahres • Finalist 2008 Carnegie Medal • Finalist 2008 Costa Book Award • Finalist 2009 New Angle Prize
The Bride's Farewell
The Bride's Farewell
• 2010 Alex Award • Finalist 2011 Carnegie Medal
Picture Me Gone
Picture Me Gone
• Finalist 2013 U.S. National Book Award
Good Dog McTavish
Good Dog McTavish
• Winner 2020 Premio Letteratura Ragazzi Prize
The Great Godden
The Great Godden
• Finalist 2020 Costa Awards • Winner 2021 Orbil prize (awarded by the Italian association of independent bookshops) • YA Book Prize finalist 2021 • School Reading List book of the month June 2020[7][8][9]
Identity
Identity
Meg Rosoff is recorded with the occupation children's writer. Recorded as a citizen of United States. Recorded with the occupation novelist. Recorded with the occupation author. Recognition and collections. Rosoff received Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, Michael L. Printz Award, Carnegie Medal, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Branford Boase Award.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1956
Meg Rosoff was born on 16 October 1956.
Picture books
Picture books
• Meet Wild Boars, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2005) • Jumpy Jack and Googily, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2008) • Wild Boars Cook, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2010) • It's A Moose!, illustrated by David Ercolini (2020)
Middle Grade Books
Middle Grade Books
• Good Dog, McTavish, illustrated by Grace Easton (2017) • McTavish Goes Wild, illustrated by Grace Easton (2018) • McTavish Takes The Biscuit, illustrated by Grace Easton (2019) • McTavish on the Move, illustrated by Grace Easton and David Shephard (2020)
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Social Upheaval and Psychological Scarring: Exploring the Future in Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now, The ALAN Review, 2009
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2009
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q470302: Meg Rosoff
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Meg Rosoff”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Lifetime achievement honors and awards
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (2014)[5] • Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2016)[6] • Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Armitstead, Claire (13 February 2016), "Meg Rosoff: 'It took 12 years for the hate to compost down into comedy'" (interview), The Guardian.
- 2.Catsoulis, Jeannette. Young Love, Interrupted by a Nuclear Bomb. The New York Times. 7 November 2013.
- 3.Macdonald, Kevin. How I Live Now. Film4, BFI Film Fund, Protagonist Pictures. 2013-10-04.
- 4.Flood, Alison (5 April 2016), "Meg Rosoff wins £430,000 Astrid Lindgren memorial award", The Guardian.
- 5.Rosoff, Meg. Royal Society of Literature. 2023-09-01.
- 6.Young adult author Meg Rosoff wins Astrid Lindgren award, BBC News, 5 April 2016
- 7.School Reading List book of the month June 2020. School Reading List.
- 8.Birthdays. The Guardian. 47. 16 October 2014.
- 9.Writers: Meg Rosoff. British Council. Accessed August 2013.
- 10.Pieces of Me. The Guardian. 23 July 2008.
- 11.Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2004 (top page). guardian.co.uk. 7 August 2012.
- 12."Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners". guardian.co.uk 12 March 2001. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- 13.(Carnegie Winner 2007) . Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- 14.Press Desk (directory). CILIP. Retrieved 7 August 2012. Quote: "media releases relating to the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards in date order." (2002 to 2006 releases concern 2001 to 2005 awards.)
- 15."Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books" . YALSA. American Library Association. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- 16."2013 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Social Upheaval and Psychological Scarring: Exploring the Future in Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now, The ALAN Review, 2009Crossref registry
Institutional witnessauthority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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