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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Popper Penguin Rescue
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.eliotschrefer.com/
CITY: New York
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 332
http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/national-book-award-finalist-eliot-schrefer-author-of-endangered-has-tampa/1255788
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born November 25, 1978, in Chicago, IL.
EDUCATION:Harvard University, B.A., 2001.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Children’s book reviewer for USA Today. Worked for three years as an SAT tutor; instructor at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing program; instructor at Hamline University’s MFA program in writing for children.
AWARDS:Sewanee Writers’ Conference fellow; Books for the Teen Age listee, New York Public Library, and Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults designation, American Library Association (ALA), both 2009, both for The School for Dangerous Girls; National Book Award finalist in young people’s literature category, 2012, Best Fiction for Young Adults designation and Amelia Bloomer Project listee, both ALA, both 2013, Green Earth Book Award, and Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award, all for Endangered; National Book Award finalist in young people’s literature category, 2014, for Threatened.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals and websites, including New York Times Book Review and Huffington Post.
SIDELIGHTS
In addition to his work writing for television and the stage, Eliot Schrefer is the author of teen novels that include The School for Dangerous Girls and The Deadly Sister. Schrefer’s “Ape Quartet,” which includes Endangered, Threatened, Rescued, and Orphaned, presents readers with gripping, environmentally themed tales about the African great apes. Schrefer writes for a range of periodicals and has been a two-time finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. He is on the creative writing faculties at Hamline University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.
“I always focus first and foremost on telling a good story, and let any gaining of knowledge happen as a happy side benefit along the way,” Schrefer remarked to Jonathan Alexander in the Los Angeles Review of Books. “That said, I think kids are very much like adults in that it’s pleasurable to gain knowledge and learn something about the world, so the ‘educational’ side of a book for younger readers, if handled well, can actually make them enjoy the book even more.”
After writing the adult novels Glamorous Disasters, which was based on his experiences as an SAT tutor, and The New Kid, Schrefer turned his attention to a teen audience. The School for Dangerous Girls focuses on Angela Cardenas, a troubled young woman whose parents send her to Oak Brook, an isolated boarding school that employs extreme methods to rehabilitate its students. Upon learning that some individuals, considered irredeemable, must fend for themselves in a brutal, prison-like structure on the Oak Brook campus, Angela attempts to lead a rebellion. Writing in Kirkus Reviews, a critic deemed The New Kid “gripping, violent and terrifying.”
In The Deadly Sister, another thriller, a college-bound teenager investigates the murder of her younger sibling’s classmate. For years Abby Goodwin has protected her delinquent, drug-addled sister Maya, and she fears the worst when Maya’s cell phone is discovered near the corpse of Jefferson Andrews, Maya’s tutor. With her sister nowhere to be found, Abby takes it upon herself to prove the girl’s innocence. “The page-turning action and the potent relationship between the two sisters will keep teens’ attention,” Shauna Yusko commented in a Booklist appraisal of The Deadly Sister. “Well-drawn characters, realistic dialogue, and suspenseful twists and turns add to the appeal,” Leah Krippner observed in School Library Journal.
Published under the pseudonym E. Archer, Schrefer’s Geek Fantasy Novel offers a “highly self-aware, genre-defying romp,” in the words of a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Forbidden to wish for anything by his parents, who believe that wishes are cursed, Ralph Stevens experiences his first taste of freedom during a visit to Great Britain to help his relatives with their computer network. Under the direction of their eccentric aunt Chessie, Ralph’s cousins indulge their fantasies to the fullest, landing the American teen in a surreal world populated by killer bunnies and purgatorial spirits. As Archer, Schrefer “writes with a wit and humor reminiscent of Neil Gaiman,” noted Voice of Youth Advocates critic Susan Hampe, the critic likening Geek Fantasy Novel to “a Dungeons and Dragons game gone wild.”
Called a “dazzling, big-hearted novel” by New York Times Book Review contributor Vicki Constantine Croke, Endangered follows the adventures of fourteen-year-old Sophie, an American girl who spends each summer at her Congolese mother’s bonobo sanctuary. Ignoring her parent’s warnings, Sophie rescues an infant bonobo from a poacher operating an illegal roadside stand. The teen develops a close bond with the primate, which she names Otto, and when civil war breaks out, the pair escape into the jungle. To survive, Sophie must learn to coexist with Otto and his fellow bonobos while also traveling through hazardous terrain and avoiding rebel soldiers. Endangered was named a National Book Award finalist.
According to Booklist contributor Michael Cart, in Endangered “Schrefer creates … a harrowing portrait of the chaos of a country at war,” and a critic in Publishers Weekly wrote that the author “smoothly educat[es] readers about the perilous dichotomy of the Congo and the heart-wrenching plight of the endangered bonobo.” Mahnaz Dar, writing in School Library Journal, maintained that “Schrefer portrays painful scenes in unflinching detail, and his powerful use of language drives the story forward.” Several critics cited the author’s ability to create well-drawn protagonists as a highlight of the work. “As riveting as the action is,” Croke noted, “it’s the nuanced portraits of the characters, human and ape, that make the story so deeply affecting,” and a Kirkus Reviews writer stated that “the lessons Sophie learns about her childhood home, love and what it means to be endangered will resonate with readers.”
Set in Gabon, Threatened, a companion volume to Endangered, was also a National Book Award finalist. The novel centers on Luc, an orphaned youth who is befriended by Abdul Mohammad, also known as the “Prof,” a self-described animal expert who hires the boy to help him research chimpanzees in the wild. As Luc observes the chimps, he becomes attuned to both their ferocity and their kindness, and although he had been afraid of chimps as a younger child, he now develops a strong bond with them and, under the Prof’s tutelage, discovers he has aptitude for the work. When the Prof mysteriously disappears, however, Luc must fend for himself, using what he has learned from the chimps to help him survive.
A Publishers Weekly contributor, calling Threatened “engrossing, meticulously researched, and gripping,” remarked that “Schrefer’s passion for the material and empathy for the characters shows on every page,” and Horn Book reviewer Monica Edinger stated that the author “gives readers an exciting adventure story while deepening their understanding of primates and their place in the natural world.” Debbie Carton also praised the novel in Booklist, remarking that “Schrefer’s landscape descriptions are rich and evocative, and his characters, both human and chimpanzee, are complex and fascinating.”
In Rescued, the third installment in Schrefer’s “Ape Quartet,” the author “tackles the issue of animals in captivity,” observed a Kirkus Reviews writer. When John Solomon was just a boy growing up in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, his father returned from a business trip to Indonesia with an exotic pet, an orangutan. Over the years, John and Raja have formed a deep bond, one more like brothers than owner and pet, and John is devastated when his parents divorce and his dad gives Raja to a sketchy roadside zoo. Worried about the orangutan’s mistreatment at the hands of the zoo’s operators, John devises a plan to rescue the creature and return him to his native land.
“Schrefer beautifully shows the humanity we share with all living things and pulls some heartstrings in this tale,” commented Emily Moore in School Library Journal. In the opinion of a Publishers Weekly critic, Rescued offers “a powerful picture of the cost of exploiting nature, the demands of agriculture, and the complexities of globalization,” and Edinger felt that, in Rescued, Schefer provides “a deep and compassionate view of a great ape within a complex narrative that brings animal-rights issues to the fore.”
(open new1)Orphaned marked the final book in the “Ape Quartet” series. The young female gorilla Snub suddenly becomes head of the family after a disaster in her home in Africa’s Great Rift Valley. Snub must protect the younger apes from the humans but comes to care for an orphaned human girl. They both able to help each other despite the danger that the gorillas are in from certain groups of humans. Reviewing the board book in School Library Journal, Alpha DeLap claimed that Orphaned is “filled with deeply resonant moments that move and challenge.”(close new1)
Schefer notes that the idea for the “Ape Quartet” came to him after he purchased a pair of pants from clothier Bonobos. He began researching the endangered creature after realizing the company was not using an invented name. As the author told Adina Talve-Goodman on the National Book Foundation website, “I was fascinated by the boundary crossing apes represent—many of their behaviors are things I thought only people could do. But as I began to write about them, I realized how well suited they are to narrative. Apes have such pure, unmediated emotions, and they’re unembarrassed about them. Writing about them means capturing the same range of feeling there is in human relationships, but without the duplicity and misdirection of language. Apes are all proof in action, and I love the clarity it gives to a story.”
With Mez’s Magic, Schrefer opens his “Lost Rainforest” series of middle-grade fantasy-adventure tales. Taking place in the magical rain forest of Caldera, the work introduces Mez, a young panther who discovers that she can remain alert during the day, a seeming impossibility for nightwalkers like her. Born during an eclipse, Mez is a “shadowwalker,” an enchanted creature who can move about in both light and darkness. Mez joins with other shadowwalkers, including Lima the bat and Rumi the tree frog, to combat the fearsome Ant Queen, who wishes to destroy their land.
“Filled with well-developed and extremely likable characters, Mez’s Magic is a fast-paced and broad-reaching” story, Kevin Delecki observed in BookPage. Writing in School Library Journal, Elizabeth Kahn similarly applauded the portraits of Mez and her friends, stating that “the camaraderie of the group, and their ability to work together, … makes this tale so charming.” A Publishers Weekly critic also lauded the novel, stating that “despite the fantasy setup, readers will come away learning quite a bit about this ecosystem and its inhabitants.”
(open new2)In The Popper Penguin Rescue, siblings Joel and Nina Popper find two penguin eggs in the basement of their new house, which had previously been a penguin petting zoo. Without telling their mother, they take care of the eggs and incubate them until they hatch. With baby penguins Ernest and Mae getting up to all sorts of mischief, it isn’t long before Joel and Nina’s mother finds out about the two new additions to their household. The three of them decide to return the baby penguins to their colony, which was released on Popper Island in the Arctic. With help from an Inuit doctoral student in zoology, they face many difficulties in getting to the colony, only to decide to relocate them all to the Antarctic after finding some conflict with puffins. A Publishers Weekly contributor noticed that “the wholesome book champions respect for animals and environmental issues within the structure of a satisfying family adventure.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews labeled the book “unbelievable, improbable, and illogical—but quite delightful.”
With the animal fantasy Case File: Little Claws, Big Claws and Little Claws—a mother and baby pair of polar bears—have just awoken from their winter-long hibernation. When Little Claws falls into a trap and is stuck on an ice floe, Big Claws telephones Mr. Pepper and Esquire asking for help. The two take a dog sled to Utqiagvik, Alaska, where they come into conflict with an evil wild-animal trafficker. Writing in School Library Journal, Ashley Larsen opined that “this lively new series will appeal to fans of Elisabetta Dami’s ‘Geronimo Stilton’ and other anthropomorphic animal adventure stories.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews found it to be “a well-meaning but only partially successful series opener.”(close new2)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2006, Emily Cook, review of Glamorous Disasters, p. 29; August 1, 2007, Joanne Wilkinson, review of The New Kid, p. 37; February 1, 2009, Cindy Dobrez, review of The School for Dangerous Girls, p. 39; June 1, 2010, Shauna Yusko, review of The Deadly Sister, p. 50; November 15, 2012, Michael Cart, review of Endangered, p. 50; February 1, 2014, Debbie Carton, review of Threatened, p. 66; November 15, 2017, Julia Smith, review of Mez’s Magic, p. 55; April 1, 2013, Gillian Engberg, “Talking with Eliot Schrefer,” p. S13.
BookPage, January 1, 2018, Kevin Delecki, review of Mez’s Magic, p. 30.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, September 1, 2010, Deborah Stevenson, review of The Deadly Sister, p. 42; April 1, 2011, April Spisak, review of Geek Fantasy Novel, p. 361.
Horn Book, January 1, 2013, Martha V. Parravano, review of Endangered, p. 89; May 1, 2014, Monica Edinger, review of Threatened, p. 96; May 1, 2016, Monica Edinger, review of Rescued, p. 111.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2006, review of Glamorous Disasters, p. 157; July 1, 2007, review of The New Kid; November 15, 2008, review of The School for Dangerous Girls; March 1, 2011, review of Geek Fantasy Novel; November 1, 2012, review of Endangered; January 15, 2014, review of Threatened; February 15, 2016, review of Rescued; October 15, 2017, review of Mez’s Magic; August 15, 2020, review of The Popper Penguin Rescue; November 1, 2020, review of Case File: Little Claws.
Natural History, November 1, 2012, Dolly Setton, review of Endangered, p. 41.
New York Times Book Review, November 11, 2012, Vicki Constantine Croke, review of Endangered, p. 27.
Publishers Weekly, February 13, 2006, review of Glamorous Disasters, p. 61; July 9, 2007, review of The New Kid, p. 30; February 7, 2011, review of Geek Fantasy Novel, p. 58; October 15, 2012, review of Endangered, p. 64; December 2, 2013, review of Threatened, p. 84; January 25, 2016, review of Rescued, p. 210; November 6, 2017, review of Mez’s Magic, p. 81; August 31, 2020, review of The Popper Penguin Rescue, p. 62.
School Library Journal, February 1, 2009, Amy J. Chow, review of The School for Dangerous Girls, p. 110; August 1, 2010, Leah Krippner, review of The Deadly Sister, p. 112; December 1, 2012, Mahnaz Dar, review of Endangered, p. 131; February 1, 2014, Carol A. Edwards, review of Threatened, p. 114; April 1, 2016, Emily Moore, review of Rescued, p. 158; November 1, 2017, Elizabeth Kahn, review of Mez’s Magic, p. 77; October 1, 2018, Alpha DeLap, review of Orphaned, p. 70; December 1, 2020, Ashley Larsen, review of Case File: Little Claws, p. 93.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April 1, 2011, Susan Hampe, review of Geek Fantasy Novel, p. 74; December 1, 2012, Teri S. Lesesne, review of Endangered, p. 475.
ONLINE
Eliot Schrefer website, http://www.eliotschrefer.com (January 18, 2021).
Los Angeles Review of Books Online, https://lareviewofbooks.org/ (January 12, 2016), Jonathan Alexander, “The Case for Animal Welfare in YA.”
National Book Foundation website, http://www.nationalbook.org/ (July 15, 2013), Sofia Quintero, author interview; (May 15, 2018), Adina Talve-Goodman, author interview.
ABOUT ME
The basics:
ELIOT SCHREFER is a New York Times-bestselling author, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award. In naming him an Editor’s Choice, the New York Times has called his work “dazzling… big-hearted.” He is also the author of two novels for adults and four other novels for children and young adults. His books have been named to the NPR “best of the year” list, the ALA best fiction list for young adults, and the Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best.” His work has also been selected to the Amelia Bloomer List, recognizing best feminist books for young readers, and he has been a finalist for the Walden Award and won the Green Earth Book Award and Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He lives in New York City, where he reviews books for USAToday.
Depth, 1 inch:
ELIOT SCHREFER is the author most recently of The Lost Rainforest, a middle-grade series about rainforest animals saving their land from a mysterious invader. After a childhood spent in Illinois, Connecticut, California, Maryland, and Florida, Schrefer attended Harvard University, where he graduated with High Honors in French and American literature. After a year teaching at a boarding school in Rome, he settled down in New York City.
Schrefer’s first novel, Glamorous Disasters, was a somewhat autobiographical tale of a young man living in Harlem and paying off college debt while tutoring Fifth-Avenue families. After writing another novel for adults, he turned to young adult fiction with The School for Dangerous Girls, about a boarding school for criminal young ladies. That book was selected as a “Best of the Teen Age” by the New York Public Library, and his next novel, The Deadly Sister, earned a starred review from School Library Journal.
Endangered, his fifth novel, was a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature, one of NPR’s “Best of 2012,” and an editor’s choice in The New York Times, which called it “dazzling, big-hearted.” The book was also a finalist for the Walden Award and won the Green Earth Book Award and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. Schrefer journeyed to the Democratic Republic of Congo while researching the novel, and has since traveled wider as he’s embarked on a quartet of novels about the great apes, one book for each primate, detailing a young person’s relationship with that animal. His follow-up, Threatened, was also a National Book Award Finalist, among other honors.
His works have been translated into many languages including German, Russian, Polish, Taiwanese, Bulgarian, and Japanese. Most recently, Schrefer joined the faculty of Fairleigh Dickinson's low residency MFA program, as well as the MFA in writing for children at Hamline University. You can find him on Twitter @EliotSchrefer, and online here at www.EliotSchrefer.com.
Depth, 10 inches:
I started writing fiction in 2004, after a bracing winter when I failed to get into the Comparative Literature programs I applied to for the second year running. Around the same time I was having dinner with friends and offhandedly mentioned that anyone with unlimited time and money would become a novelist. Being met by blank stares, I realized that I'd just casually discovered what I was supposed to do with my life. So I began work in earnest. My first publishede book, Glamorous Disasters, was about my experiences living in Harlem and working off financial aid debt by tutoring the wealthy kids of Park Avenue. My second, The New Kid, was a darker, more literary follow-up that was alternatingly described as a new Talented Mr. Ripley (Publishers Weekly) and a perverted Richie Rich (those particular bon mots courtesy of Kirkus Reviews). Around then I met the extraordinary David Levithan, who introduced me to the world of young adult literature. I wrote two books for him, The School for Dangerous Girls and The Deadly Sister, before beginning my latest project, the Great Ape Quartet. Endangered, about a girl surviving wartime in Congo with an orphan bonobo, came out in Fall 2012. Threatened, about an orphan learning to scrape by in the jungle alongside chimps, came out in Spring 2014. The orangutans and the gorillas finished out the quartet in 2016 and 2018.
DEPTH: 100 inches:
A Q and A between Eliot and Eliot, circa 2010
ELIOT: We'd like to welcome Eliot Schrefer to the computer.
ELIOT (coughs): Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
ELIOT: Eliot, if I may call you Eliot, I'd like to start by asking you a few questions about what brought you to this point. I understand, for example, that you were born premature. A caesarean section, I believe.
ELIOT: Yes. Though I can't really see why--
ELIOT: It's hardly underdocumented that those who are smaller than their peers in early stages of their lives feel deep needs to exert their personalities later in life. In such desperate need of a caregiver as an infant, you learned to please others in order to survive. This drive develops to such an extent that producing work for the outside world becomes the most authentic way, paradoxically, of being yourself.
ELIOT: I was told that you'd start by asking me my favorite color.
ELIOT: I chose not to.
ELIOT: Clearly. I'm a bit thirsty. Would you mind...?
ELIOT: Of course not. Have a sip.
ELIOT: Thank you. It's yellow, by the way. My favorite color.
ELIOT: Now, Eliot. Let's continue with a couple more ice breakers. You're a Pisces, no?
ELIOT: A Sagittarius. But I don't believe in astrology.
ELIOT: Of course. That's in my notes somewhere, I'm sure. Tell us a bit about your childhood.
ELIOT: I was born in Chicago, during the blizzard of 1978. My mom's British, my dad's American. I've got both passports. We lived in Norwich and Cheshire, Connecticut, Santa Rosa, California, Columbia, Maryland, and Clearwater, Florida.
ELIOT: Quite a few places. Was your dad in the military?
ELIOT: Nope. He just wasn't very good at his job.
ELIOT: Awkward. You're aware that Michael Chabon grew up in Columbia, Maryland as well? He's written about it.
ELIOT: Yes. I just finished his essay on it. And I'm a big fan of his novels.
ELIOT: Whom else do you like?
ELIOT: My favorite writer for adults is E.M. Forster. Particularly Howard's End. His language is unpretentious, his plots engaging, and his paragraphs will crack open with these profound, unexpected insights. For similar reasons I'll also read anything by Lorrie Moore, Edith Wharton, Michael Cunningham, Julia Glass, Nicola Griffith, or Dorothy Parker. That would be some dinner party, wouldn't it?
ELIOT: I don't follow.
ELIOT: No bother. Continue.
ELIOT: Where do you live?
ELIOT: In New York City. The Upper West Side, near the Museum of Natural History.
ELIOT: When did you start writing?
ELIOT: I wrote a fantasy novel when I was in eighth grade, which featured loads of glowing blue swords, archers in green leather, and monsters rearing in anguish. Then I wrote some plays in high school, many of which are terrible and one of which is still produced to this day. During college I didn't really write. Which was good, because it took me a few years afterwards to purge enough academic self-awareness to be able to create readable fiction.
ELIOT: Your first novel, Glamorous Disasters, was about a young man from the South who becomes an SAT tutor to the scions of Park Avenue. You also happen to be a young man from the South who became a Manhattan SAT tutor. Coincidence?ELIOT: Not really a coincidence. But I will say my real students are a lot sweeter than the ones in the book.
ELIOT: Did you work for a company? How did they feel about your writing Glamorous Disasters?
ELIOT: I either quit or got fired, to this day I'm not sure. I work for myself, now.
ELIOT: I'll put you down as "fired."
ELIOT: Sweet of you.
ELIOT: And your second book?
ELIOT: I sublet my apartment in the summers, pack a big backpack and wander around sleeping on friends' couches. I was in Barcelona when I wrote The New Kid.
ELIOT: It was quite a departure from your first book. Much darker fare.
ELIOT: Yes.
ELIOT: Any swords?
ELIOT: No. But monsters did rear in pain, I guess.
ELIOT: Your third book is an SAT guide called Hack the SAT?
ELIOT: That's right. It was a finalist for the National Book Award.
ELIOT: That's a joke, right?
ELIOT: Yes.
ELIOT: You're on the cover.
ELIOT: Sort of. We hired a manga-style artist to sketch me. Since we sent her my author photo, which goes down only to my shoulders, she didn't know how tall to make me. That guy on the cover is, oh, half a foot taller than I really am. You know how people have "dream jeans" they hope to fit into someday? That guy's the "dream me."
ELIOT: I see we're back to the short thing. How short are you?
ELIOT: 5'8".
ELIOT: That's more "average" than "short."
ELIOT: Eh, I was a short kid. It sticks.
ELIOT: And now we have The School for Dangerous Girls. How did that come about?
ELIOT: I went to lunch with my friend, David Levithan, a great author who also happens to be an editor at Scholastic. He said he had a killer title for a book, and wondered if I'd write it. So I did. It was a perfect setup, really. I'm terrible at titles (case in point being The New Kid, many would argue), and I got to start with a title that works and build the novel from there.
ELIOT: What's next?
ELIOT: I'm working on another young adult novel for Scholastic.
ELIOT: What's this one about?
ELIOT: It's not totally formed yet, so I'd rather not say. But you could call it a spiritual successor to The School for Dangerous Girls.
ELIOT: Are you planning on writing more adult fiction?
ELIOT: Yes. I'm halfway into a book that might end up being called The Nephew Season. It's about a young man who grew up in rural France in the 1870s, showed tremendous aptitude for the piano, was the toast of Parisian high society, then offended the wrong man and disappeared from history at the age of 19. He was supposed to become France's Mozart, but he just vanished. He was an actual person. I spent last summer at the French archives doing research. Really heartbreaking story.
ELIOT: A cautionary tale, perhaps?
ELIOT: I'm terrible at piano.
ELIOT: We just don't understand each other, do we, you and I?
ELIOT: That's the key of writing, I guess, isn't it? Constantly building bridges, both to reach the minds outside and to connect the parts within.
ELIOT: Stop being so pretentious.
ELIOT: I don't think I was. I was just trying to answer your question.
ELIOT: People wonder why, since you're a writer, you don't brood more.
ELIOT: I really like my life. I feel really lucky. There's not much cause to brood.
ELIOT: Eliot, thanks for stopping by.
ELIOT: Always a pleasure.
DEPTH, 1000 inches:
It's gross down there. Come back out.
Eliot Schrefer
ELIOT SCHREFER is a resident of New York City and an honors graduate of Harvard College. A contributor to The Huffington Post and a reviewer for USA Today, Eliot has been profiled in Newsweek, New York Magazine, the New York Post, WWD, and NPR's "Leonard Lopate Show." His first novel, Glamorous Disasters, became an international bestseller. He has since been writing for young adults. His books have been translated into Russian, Polish, Romanian, and German.
Genres: Children's Fiction
New Books
October 2020
(kindle)
The Popper Penguin RescueJanuary 2021
(kindle)
Case File: Little Claws
(Animal Rescue Agency)June 2021
(hardback)
The Darkness Outside Us
Series
Ape Quartet
1. Endangered (2012)
aka Heart of Danger
2. Threatened (2014)
3. Rescued (2016)
4. Orphaned (2018)
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Lost Rainforest
1. Mez's Magic (2018)
2. Gogi's Gambit (2019)
3. Rumi's Riddle (2019)
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Animal Rescue Agency
Case File: Little Claws (2021)
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Novels
Glamorous Disasters (2006)
The New Kid (2007)
The School for Dangerous Girls (2009)
The Deadly Sister (2010)
The Popper Penguin Rescue (2020)
The Darkness Outside Us (2021)
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Series contributed to
Spirit Animals
6. Rise and Fall (2014)
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Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts
1. Immortal Guardians (2015)
Eliot Schrefer
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Eliot Schrefer
Schrefer at the Miami Book Fair International, 2014
Schrefer at the Miami Book Fair International, 2014
Born November 25, 1978 (age 42)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation Writer, teacher
Education B.A. with Highest Honors in Literature
Alma mater Harvard University
Notable works Endangered, Threatened
Notable awards National Book Award Finalist 2012, 2014
Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award 2013[1]
Green Earth Book Award 2013[2]
Website
eliotschrefer.com
Eliot Schrefer (born November 25, 1978) is an American author of both adult and young adult fiction, and a two-time finalist for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature.[3][4] Schrefer's first novel Glamorous Disasters was published by Simon & Schuster in 2006. He is most known for his young adult novels Endangered (2012) and Threatened (2014), which are survival stories featuring young people and great apes. He is currently on the faculty of the Creative Writing MFA Program at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Contents
1 Career
2 List of works
2.1 The Ape Quartet
2.2 The Lost Rainforest
2.3 Spirit Animals
2.4 Other work
3 References
4 External links
Career
Schrefer has published eleven books to date. In reviewing his novel Endangered, The New York Times praised the depth of his characters, saying "As riveting as the action is, it’s the nuanced portraits of the characters, human and ape, that make the story so deeply affecting."[5] Dennis Abrams of Publishing Perspectives, also discussed in his review of Threatened, the way in which Schrefer "even makes his chimpanzees…into living breathing characters."[6]
In drawing parallels between the bonobo apes and human characters in these novels, Schrefer says that writing about the bonobos "allowed me to address more nakedly the feelings—jealousy, loyalty, anger, sorrow—that we all experience."[7]
List of works
The Ape Quartet
Endangered (Scholastic, 2012)
Threatened (Scholastic, 2014)
Rescued (Scholastic, 2016)
Orphaned (Scholastic, September 25, 2018)
The Lost Rainforest
Mez's Magic (Katherine Tegen Books, January 2, 2018)
Gogi's Gambit (Jaden Tegen Books, February 5, 2019)
Spirit Animals
Spirit Animals book 6: Rise and Fall (Scholastic, 2014)
Spirit Animals (Fall of the Beasts) book 1: Immortal Guardians (Scholastic, 2015)
Other work
Glamorous Disasters (Simon & Schuster, 2006)
The New Kid (Simon & Schuster, 2007)
Hack the SAT (Gotham Books, 2008)
The School for Dangerous Girls (Scholastic, 2009)
The Deadly Sister (Scholastic, 2010)
Greek Fantasy Novel (Scholastic, 2011)
ELIOT SCHREFER is a resident of New York City and an honors graduate of Harvard College. A contributor to The Huffington Post and a reviewer for USAToday, Eliot has been profiled in Newsweek, New York Magazine, the New York Post, WWD, and NPR's "Leonard Lopate Show." His first novel, Glamorous Disasters, became an international bestseller. He has since been writing for young adults. His books have been translated into Russian, Polish, Romanian, and German.
Eliot Schrefer
CITY OF BIRTH
Chicago
STATE/PROVIDENCE OF BIRTH
Illinois
COUNTRY OF BIRTH
United States of America
CURRENT CITY
New York
CURRENT STATE/PROVIDENCE
New York
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Eliot Schrefer is the author of Endangered, a 2012 National Book Award finalist in Young People's Literature. He is also the author of The Deadly Sister, The School for Dangerous Girls, Glamorous Disasters, and The New Kid.
Eliot is a graduate of Harvard College. A contributor to The Huffington Post and a reviewer for USA Today, Eliot has been profiled in Newsweek, New York Magazine, the New York Post, Women's Wear Daily, and NPR's The Leonard Lopate Show. He was selected as one of the 2007 "Out 100," and as a fellow to the Sewanee Writers' Conference. He lives in New York City. Visit him online at www.eliotschrefer.com and on Twitter @EliotSchrefer.
Eliot Schrefer is a New York Times bestselling author, has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature, and has won the Green Earth Book Award and the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award for Children’s Literature. His novels include the Lost Rainforest series, Endangered, Threatened, Rescued, Orphaned, and two books in the Spirit Animals series. He lives in New York City, is on the faculty of the Hamline University and Fairleigh Dickinson University MFA in creative writing programs, and reviews books for USA Today. Visit him online at www.eliotschrefer.com.
Schrefer, Eliot THE POPPER PENGUIN RESCUE Little, Brown (Children's None) $16.99 10, 13 ISBN: 978-0-316-49542-4
Joel, Nina, and their mother, Mrs. Popper, are distantly related to the family whose penguins made the town of Stillwater famous years ago.
In nearby Hillport, Mrs. Popper has purchased an abandoned house that had once been a penguin petting zoo. While exploring their new home, the children discover two intact penguin eggs in the basement. They care for the eggs surreptitiously, without telling Mom. Once the eggs hatch, the baby penguins, now named Ernest and Mae, are mischievous and clever, and the secret is soon out. The family decides to bring Ernest and Mae to join the original group of penguins that was relocated to Popper Island in the Arctic—never mind that penguins’ habitat is the Antarctic. They travel by boat, with Yuka, an Inuit doctoral student in zoology, as their guide and leader. Journey highlights include a penguin-caused glitch in the boat’s computer systems, a vicious Arctic storm, and lively interactions with the island-based penguins. Due to a puffin problem they decide to haul all the penguins to Antarctica, their rightful habitat. Schrefer clearly greatly admires the beloved, more-than–80-year-old classic, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, keeping readers informed by referring to its characters and events while adding a modern, eco-friendly viewpoint and lots of fun and laughs. Joel and Nina are sweet, resourceful, and wonderfully kind, as are Mom and Yuka. (Illustrations not seen.)
Unbelievable, improbable, and illogical—but quite delightful. (Fantasy. 8-12)
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"Schrefer, Eliot: THE POPPER PENGUIN RESCUE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A632285458/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=372d84d5. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
The Popper Penguin Rescue
Eliot Schrefer, illus. by Jim Madsen. Little, Brown, $16.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-316-49542-4
Inspired by the 1938 classic Mr. Popper's Penguins, Schrefer imagines a Popper descendant accidentally taking up her ancestot's mantle. Mrs. Popper, a recently separated parent facing economic hardship, moves her children, fifth-grader Joel and third-grader Nina, to a foreclosed-upon former penguin petting zoo in a town neighboring the original Mr. Popper's Stillwater. Upon arrival, the children discover two abandoned penguin eggs, which soon hatch. The family decides to take the chicks to the Arctic, where Mr. Popper settled his famous brood, instead of their native Antarctica. Embarking upon their mission in a boat manned by Yuca, an Inuit doctoral student who transports them in his family's fishing craft, they run aground in the Arctic and endure a blizzard in an abandoned caretaker's hut. Stretching the bounds of realism, the old-fashioned story avoids complicated emotions (the children don't give one thought to their absent father) while offering pleasing imagery (the penguins "pitched over like a set of bowling pins") and solid information about penguins in equal measure. Bringing a contemporary conscience to its predecessor, the wholesome book champions respect for animals and environmental issues within the structure of a satisfying family adventure. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Richard Pine, InkWell Management. (Oct.)
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"The Popper Penguin Rescue." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 35, 31 Aug. 2020, p. 62. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A635645600/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b44284b6. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
Schrefer, Eliot CASE FILE Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (Children's None) $16.99 1, 12 ISBN: 978-0-06-298233-9
The Animal Rescue Agency, helmed by fox Esquire and rooster Mr. Pepper, saves a stranded polar bear cub.
Mother polar bear Big Claws and her baby, Little Claws, emerge from hibernation only to have Little Claws fall into a trap that leaves him stranded on an ice floe. Big Claws’ message for help sets Esquire and Mr. Pepper into action. They hop on a train to Anchorage, then dog-sled to Utqiagvik, Alaska, as the story plunges them into intrigue and action, working against an openly evil wild-animal trafficker. Although the action maintains a steady pace—with captures and escapes aplenty—certain plot elements fall apart under scrutiny. Instead, the focus is on the duo’s dynamic, crotchety and full of good-natured insults. Esquire’s dashing and flashy—down to her fashion statements—while business-minded Mr. Pepper tends toward the practical. Utqiagvik’s description isn’t exactly flattering, even given the vulpine perspective, and readers looking for Alaskan Native representation there will be disappointed. The villain is the only human character, described as “gray” but presenting White and looking like a fur hat–wearing Capt. Hook in the cartoon art. Backmatter includes information on how climate change threatens polar bears, along with Mr. Pepper’s recipe for mushroom jerky (a favorite of Esquire’s, who’s sworn off eating animals). Esquire, unlike the other animals, is highly anthropomorphized in the art, mostly going about on two feet. Only she and Mr. Pepper wear clothing.
A well-meaning but only partially successful series opener. (Animal fantasy. 8-12.)
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"Schrefer, Eliot: CASE FILE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2020. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639818788/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8a9a2b37. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
SCHREFER, Eliot. Orphaned. 336p. Scholastic. (Ape Quartet: Vol. 4). Sept. 2018.Tr$18.99. ISBN9780545655057.
Gr 4-7--In this fourth installment in Schrefer's quartet, early humans make contact with apes many thousands of years ago. Written in verse, the story centers on Snub, a young female gorilla who lives with her extended family in Africa's Great Rift Valley. When a natural disaster strikes, Snub is left as the head of her family and she must protect the younger apes from violence by the "not-gorillas" (the humans). Snub eventually befriends an orphaned human girl who uses her unique skills to help the ape family. Schrefer's deep knowledge and passion for biology, geology, history, and geography is on full display in this emotionally complex tale. Each word is intentional and every shift in the narrative filled with dramatic (though never heavy-handed) purpose. The ways in which Schrefer explores the meaning of home and how it evolves through the introduction of humans is breathtaking. Schrefer's ability to articulate an anthropological rendering of a gorilla's first experiences with humans is both beautiful and brutal. Embedded within the narrative is the story of a daughter taking on the role as head of household and developing confidence in herself, her perspective, and her decisions. The integration of the gorilla's own language is brilliant and elucidates ineffable moments. VERDICT Filled with deeply resonant moments that move and challenge; ' highly recommended for all middle grade and young adult collections.--Alpha DeLap, St. Thomas School, Medina, W4
KEY: * Excellent In relation to other titles on the same subject or In the same genre | Tr Hardcover trade binding | lib. ed. Publisher's library binding | Board Board book | pap. Paperback | e eBook original | BL Bilingual | POP Popular Picks
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DeLap, Alpha. "SCHREFER, Eliot. Orphaned." School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 10, Oct. 2018, p. 70+. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A556838438/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=648c2eda. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
SCHREFER, Eliot. Case File: Little Claws. illus. by Daniel Duncan. 176p. (Animal Rescue Agency: Bk. 1). Harper/Katherine Tegen. Jan. 2021. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780062982339.
Gr 2-5--When Esquire Fox and her partner Mr. Pepper, a gentlemanly rooster, get the message that an animal of some kind is trapped on an ice floe, they rush to the rescue. As the founders of the Animal Rescue Agency, they have sworn to help any animal who is in trouble. On arrival in Utqiagvik, Alaska, they learn that the animal they need to save is a baby polar bear named Little Claws. It has been stranded on an ice floe by a mysterious man in a white fur hat, who soon captures them as well. It will require the help of some unlikely animal allies and a daring adventure in the Arctic Sea to rescue the stranded polar bear while escaping the villainous poacher. With its odd-couple protagonists (the daring, but slightly vain Esquire Fox and stodgy, sensible Mr. Pepper), and entertaining portrayal of the animal world, this new series by the Endangered author is full of lighthearted adventure. Cartoon-style illustrations by Duncan add to the story's charm. The field notes at the end explain the real-life perils faced by polar bears in the face of climate change, and include resources explaining the causes of polar ice loss and how kids can help. This also includes a recipe for mushroom jerky. VERDICT This lively new series will appeal to fans of Elisabetta Dami's "Geronimo Stilton" and other anthropomorphic animal adventure stories.--Ashley Larsen, Pacifica Libraries, CA
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Larsen, Ashley. "SCHREFER, Eliot. Case File: Little Claws." School Library Journal, vol. 66, no. 12, Dec. 2020, p. 93+. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A643822100/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=94ad9082. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.