Terry Trueman
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Terry Trueman is the Printz honor-winning author of Stuck in Neutral and six other Young Adult novels, as well as a few books of poetry and short stories for adults. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Terry has lived in Spokane, Washington since 1974. He has Masters degrees in applied psychology and creative writing.
Terry’s first novel, Stuck in Neutral (2001), was inspired by his son Sheehan, who was born a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. The disease severely crippled his son and threatened to overwhelm Terry, who eventually turned his shock and grief into a narrative poem, Sheehan, which in turn grew to become the novel, Stuck in Neutral. The acclaim and impact that book had inspired two other companion novels for teens, Cruise Control (2005) and Life Happens Next (2012), as well as a non-fiction book about his son, Sheehan: Heartbreak and Redemption (2007). His other YA novels include Inside Out (2004), Seven Days at the Hot Corner (2007), Hurricane (2008), and No Right Turn (2009). His books have received numerous national honors and he is considered by many to be the godfather of the “problem” novel, along with the likes of Chris Crutcher and Walter Dean Myers. He is a co-founder of an enormously popular teen book festival in Rochester, N.Y., TBF, where he appears annually.
Terry’s favorite author is Charles Bukowski. Like Bukowski, Terry had written his whole life but only became published later, when he was 53. His latest book is a book of poetry for adults, Where's the Fire (2015).