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More About Andrea Wang (She/Her)
Languages: English
Andrea Wang is the Newbery Honor-winning author of Watercress, which also received the Caldecott Medal, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, among other accolades. Her middle grade novels and other picture books have also received acclaim: Summer at Squee (NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor Award, Ohio Book Award); The Many Meanings of Meilan (Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award Honor, NYT Best Children’s Book List); Luli and the Language of Tea (Floyd’s Pick Award, NYT Book Review); Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando (Sakura Medal, Freeman Book Award Honor); and The Nian Monster (Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor). Many of her books have also been chosen as School Library Journal Gold Standard Selections and have appeared on multiple state reading lists. Andrea’s work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She is a research nerd and loves to bring hidden history to light.
Andrea earned an MFA in Creative Writing for Young People from Lesley University and often presents at conferences, schools, and festivals both in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to becoming a full-time mom and author, she was an environmental scientist and worked to clean up hazardous waste sites. She lives in Colorado with her family and can often be found watching C-dramas and sneak-eating potato chips and chocolate, preferably together.
You can find Andrea online at:
Andrea’s strengths include…
Finding the emotional heart of a story
Using figurative language,
Creating tension and emotional heft
Playing with alternative structures
Leaving room for the illustrator
Researching for both fiction and nonfiction
Revising for pace and flow
Brainstorming how an author can best realize their vision and intention for their story.
Giving honest and direct feedback, while being supportive and kind.
What Andrea is looking for…
Andrea is looking for a mentee who wants to make a reader feel something, not just learn a lesson. She would love to read heartfelt, poignant manuscripts with lyrical (non-rhyming) language.
Andrea is looking for someone who is not afraid of digging deep - into themselves, into the research, into the craft, and who is willing to tackle hard questions. She hopes to connect with a mentee who loves parsing language as much as she does and only breaks grammar rules with intention.
Andrea is looking for a mentee to focus on 1-2 manuscripts over the duration of the mentorship.
A Note from Andrea:
“With so few words and pages in a picture book, everything in your story should be chosen with care and intention. And I mean *everything* - not just each word, but every object, setting, name, character, dialogue, etc. Ask yourself why you chose to include it versus an alternative, and why does it matter? It's fine to include your own favorites, but make it mean something in the story's world.”
Andrea’s Picture Books
Please note that Andrea writes in other markets. To see her full body of work, please visit her website.
Watercress, written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin
Luli and the Language of Tea, written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Hyewon Yum
Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando, written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz
Worthy: The Brave and Capable Life of Joseph Pierce, written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Youa Vang
The Nian Monster, written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Alina Chau
Andrea's upcoming book: BITTERSWEET, a companion book to WATERCRESS, will be illustrated by Jason Chin and published by Neal Porter Books in 2027.
If Andrea created a Visual Wish List, it would be made up of…
*Unless otherwise stated, the below serves as a wish list only. Each mentor is excited about the opportunity to find a manuscript they can’t stop thinking about. Please apply if you think you’d be a good fit.
Built to Last by Minh Lê and illustrated by Dan Santat
Lift by Minh Lê and illustrated by Dan Santat
Let's Do Everything and Nothing written and illustrated by Julia Kuo
I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith
Old Blue Is My Home written and illustrated by Lita Judge;
A Place for Us written and illustrated by James E. Ransome
The Yellow Bus written and illustrated by Loren Long
Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita Yasuda and illustrated by Yuko Shimizu
A Roof! by Stephanie Ellen Sy and illustrated by Daniel Tingcungco
Andrea is a good fit for…
Social emotional learning
Tough topics (non-tough topics are a good fit, too!)
Cultural stories
STEM nonfiction
Biographies of BIPOC written by someone from that community
Stories that make her cry
Manuscripts with good punctuation, spelling, and grammar (unless these rules are broken with intention)
Andrea is not a good fit for…
Slapstick or potty humor
Rhyme
Board books
Cultural stories outside the author's lived experience
Query letters (she can give feedback, but hasn't written one herself in a long time)
Agent research (she can give feedback, but hasn't researched agents in a long time)
Initial story development
Manuscripts that need a lot of copyediting
Who can apply to Andrea?
Unagented or agented text-only authors who identify as BIPOC.