{{short description|American and British author}} {{Infobox writer | name = Eliot Schrefer | image = Schrefer, Eliot -MBFI.jpg | alt = | caption = Schrefer at the [[Miami Book Fair International]], 2014 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1978|11|25}} | birth_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S. | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|1978|11|25}} --> | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Writer, teacher | education = B.A. with Highest Honors in Literature | alma_mater = [[Harvard University]] | known_for = | notableworks= ''Endangered'', ''Threatened'' | awards = {{Plainlist}} * [[National Book Award]] Finalist 2012, 2014 * Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award 2013<ref>{{cite news|title=Previous Award Recipients: Northland College|url=http://www.northland.edu/sigurd-olson-environmental-institute-sonwa-previous-recipients.htm|access-date=9 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208103003/http://www.northland.edu/sigurd-olson-environmental-institute-sonwa-previous-recipients.htm|archive-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> * Green Earth Book Award 2013<ref>{{cite web|title=Green Earth Book Award|url=http://www.natgen.org/green-earth-book-awards/|website=The Nature Generation|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-date=10 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310190752/http://www.natgen.org/green-earth-book-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref> {{Endplainlist}} | website = {{Official URL}} }}
'''Eliot Schrefer''' (born November 25, 1978) is an American and British<ref name="Own site biog">{{cite web |url=https://www.eliotschrefer.com/bio |title=About Me |publisher=Eliot Schrefer |access-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222225803/https://www.eliotschrefer.com/bio |url-status=live }}</ref> author of both adult and young adult fiction, and a two-time finalist for the [[National Book Award]] in Young People's Literature.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Book Awards-2012|url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2012#.VF-ZcGctCpq|website=National Book Foundation|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026192520/http://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2012/#.VF-ZcGctCpq|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=2014 National Book Awards|url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2014#.VF-ZbWctCpr|website=National Book Foundation|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026191138/http://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2014/#.VF-ZbWctCpr|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]].
==Career== 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."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Croke |first1=Vicki Constantine |title=Adapt and Survive: ''Endangered'' by Eliot Schrefer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/books/review/endangered-by-eliot-schrefer.html?_r=2& |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 November 2012 |access-date=9 November 2014 |archive-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322123028/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/books/review/endangered-by-eliot-schrefer.html?_r=2& |url-status=live }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Abrams |first1=Dennis |title=With Latest, Eliot Schrefer Takes YA to Endangered Africa |url=http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/02/with-latest-eliot-schrefer-takes-ya-to-endangered-africa/ |website=Publishing Perspectives |date=24 February 2014 |access-date=9 November 2014 |archive-date=2 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002005350/http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/02/with-latest-eliot-schrefer-takes-ya-to-endangered-africa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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."<ref>{{cite web|title=2012 National Book Award Finalist-Young People's Literature|url=http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2012_ypl_schrefer_interv.html#.VF-demctCpp|website=National Book Foundation|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-date=8 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008045258/http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2012_ypl_schrefer_interv.html#.VF-demctCpp|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Schrefer withdrew from the 2021 Plum Creek Literacy Festival at [[Concordia University Nebraska]] after observing that books with LGBT characters, including his book ''The Darkness Outside Us'', had been excluded from the festival and that the religious University had a discriminatory policy toward LGBT students. Other authors withdrew following Schrefer, and the festival was cancelled.<ref name="Dunker2021">{{cite news |last=Dunker |first=Chris |date=September 23, 2021 |title=Plum Creek Literacy Festival cancels events after authors pull out over 'discriminatory' Concordia policy |url=https://journalstar.com/news/local/education/plum-creek-literacy-festival-cancels-events-after-authors-pull-out-over-discriminatory-concordia-policy/article_1cba73cf-fe22-5109-a634-2be467b453ed.html |work=[[Lincoln Journal Star]] |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |access-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112015550/https://journalstar.com/news/local/education/plum-creek-literacy-festival-cancels-events-after-authors-pull-out-over-discriminatory-concordia-policy/article_1cba73cf-fe22-5109-a634-2be467b453ed.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
''The Darkness Outside Us'', an LGBT young adult science fiction novel by Schrefer, was published in 2021 by Harper Collins. In 2024, [[Elliot Page]]'s production company Page Boy Productions [[optioned]] the rights to adapting the novel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elliot Page Developing Sci-Fi Novel ‘The Darkness Outside Us’ as Feature (Exclusive) |date=April 19, 2024 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-darkness-outside-us-movie-1235877625/ |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=April 26, 2024}}</ref>
== Personal life == Born in [[Chicago]] to a British mother and an American father,<ref name="Own site biog"/> Schrefer is [[gay]].<ref>{{Cite tweet |last=Schrefer |first=Eliot |user=EliotSchrefer |number=1425087175662706698 |date=August 10, 2021 |title=I realized I was gay when I started lingering over the Fruit of the Loom ads in my brother’s Rolling Stone. I was 11. The first thing I did after was look up “homosexuality” in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (because nerd). |access-date=December 22, 2021 }}</ref>
==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) *''[[Rumi's Riddle]]'' (Katherine Tegen Books, February 4, 2020)
===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) *''The Darkness Outside Us'' (Harper Collins, 2021) *''Queer Ducks (and Other Animals)'' (Harper Collins, 2022) *''Charming Young Man'' (Harper Collins, 2023) *''The Brightness Between Us'' (Harper Collins, 2024)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}} * {{LCAuth|n2005080737|Eliot Schrefer|7|}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schrefer, Eliot}} [[Category:1978 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American male novelists]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:Writers from Chicago]] [[Category:Novelists from Illinois]] [[Category:American gay writers]] [[Category:LGBTQ people from Illinois]] [[Category:American LGBTQ novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]