Papademetriou, Lisa (Edgar Greene, Jasmine Jones, Tyche)

Personal

Born in Houston, TX; married. Education: Vassar College, graduate. Hobbies and other interests: Knitting, Eighties music, "playing guitar (badly)."

Addresses

Home—Northampton, MA. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer for children. Former teacher of English in Guatemala City, Guatemala; Scholastic, Inc., New York, NY, former assistant editor; former editor for 17th Street Productions, HarperCollins Publishers, and Disney Press.

Awards, Honors

Texas Lone Star Reading List, 2007-08, for The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

(With Christopher Tebbetts) M or F?, Razorbill (New York, NY), 2005.

Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

Prilla's Prize ("Disney Fairies" series), Disney Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon ("Disney Fairies" series), Random House (New York, NY), 2006.

The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, Razorbill/Penguin (New York, NY), 2006.

How to Be a Girly Girl in Just Ten Days ("Candy Apple" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2007.

Also author of A Very Lizzie Summer. Author, under pseudonym Edgar Greene, of Sports Heroes and Legends: Tony Hawk; author, under pseudonym Tyche, of Vampire Dreams.

"EAL KIDS" READERS

You're in Big Trouble, Brad!, photographs by Dorothy Handelman, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1998.

My Pen Pal, Pat, photographs by Dorothy Handelman, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1998.

Really?, photographs by Dorothy Handelman, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1999.

Lucky Me!, photographs by Dorothy Handelman, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1999.

ADAPTOR; BASED ON "MONSTER MANOR" SERIES BY PAUL MARTIN

Frankie Rocks the House, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2003.

Beatrice's Spells, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2003.

Wolf Man Stu Bites Back, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

Horror Gets Slimed, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

Count Snobuta Vamps It Up, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

Sally Gets Silly, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

Runaway Zombie!, illustrated by Manu Boisteau, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

FOR CHILDREN; UNDER PSEUDONYM JASMINE JONES

Monsters, Inc.: Employee Handbook (based on the film Monsters, Inc.), Random House (New York, NY), 2001.

Disney's Build Your Own Haunted Mansion, Disney Press (New York, NY), 2003.

(Adapter) The Quest for Aslan (based on "Chronicles of Narnia" series by C.S. Lewis), HarperKidsEntertainment (New York, NY), 2005.

Raven Rocks, Disney Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Veronica: What a Catch!, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

(Adapter) Curious George: The Movie, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2005.

(Adapter) Betty & Veronica: Best Friends Forever, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

The Mighty Grizzly, HarperKidsEntertainment (New York, NY), 2006.

Fight the Cure, HarperKidsEntertainment (New York, NY), 2006.

Spider-Man 3 (film novelization), HarperEntertainment (New York, NY), 2007.

Also author of Betty and Veronica's Guide to Life and Betty and Veronica's Guide to Friendship. Author of movie adaptations, including Cars, Coach Carter, The Cheetah Girls, Catwoman, The Incredibles: Never Wear a Cape, The Incrdible Hulk: The Hulk Fights Back, and Disney's Scary Storybook Collection. Author of adaptations of television programs, including Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, and Kim Possible series. Author of coloring and activity books based on Disney films.

Adaptations

Nickelodeon/Paramount Pictures optioned film rights for The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey.

Sidelights

Sometimes writing under a pen name, Lisa Papademetriou is the author of several Disney movie adaptations, television show tie-ins, and other books for young

readers. Beginning her career as an intern in children's publishing at Horn Book magazine, Papademetriou has worked in an editorial capacity at several publishing houses, including Disney Press, for which she has also written several titles. In addition to adaptations, readers, and series fiction, Papademetriou has also written the original novels Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me and The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, and is the coauthor, with Chris Tebbetts, of the young-adult novel M or F?

Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me is the story of Allie Kimball, a girl intimidated by her first year of middle school and distanced from her former best friend by changing interests. "Papademetriou's strength lies in her well-tuned ear for middle-school dialogue," wrote Kay Weisman in a review of the title for Booklist. "This story is a hoot, full of real kinds of middle school misadventures," School Library Journal reviewer Paula LaRue stated of Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, while a Kirkus Reviews contributor predicted that tweens will be attracted to "Papademetriou's clever, popular format and ability to understand the emotional roller coaster" of middle school life.

When two modern teens are cast in an epic fantasy novel, things are bound to get a little crazy, and this is exactly what happens in The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey. Brainy Veronica Lopez, who has read the novel in question several times, realizes as soon as they arrive that she and popular Heather Simms have changed the course of the story—by accidentally killing the heroine. Now it is up to the two teens—together with a wizard who cannot perform magic, an elf who comes complete with cookies, and an manic talking squirrel—to save the world. "Solidly entertaining," The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey "is laced with teenspeak and common fantasy tropes but not played entirely for cheap laughs," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor of Papademetriou's imaginative novel. In Kliatt Myrna Marlar compared the novel to a cross between a buddy movie and a chick-lit mystery, and Francisca Goldsmith commented in Booklist that the two teens' literary adventure "is full of puns and allusions to contemporary culture."

When asked about the inspiration for the collaborative novel M or F?, Papedemetriou explained to Cynsations online interviewer Cynthia Leitich Smith: "Actually, the publisher came up with the idea. They wanted a Will and Grace for high school. Then they hired Chris and me to write it. It was an arranged marriage—Chris and I had never met (or even heard of each other) before we started working together." Papademetriou and Tebbetts decided to each write a main character in their own unique voice, and alternate perspective between Marcus, a gay teenager, and his best friend Frannie. Frannie does not have the guts to talk to her crush, Jeffrey, so Marcus poses as Frannie online, chatting with Jeffrey to win him over. Soon Marcus begins to suspect that Jeffrey may actually be falling for him, and he is not sure that is such a bad thing. The resulting comedy of errors is "an emotionally sensitive light comedy," according to

a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Noting the classic elements of mistaken identity, Frances Bradburn wrote in Booklist that M or F? is "filled with twists of plot that will tantalize and please teen readers," and a Publishers Weekly critic predicted that "readers will like both of the flawed, funny protagonists, and appreciate their tight bond."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2005, Kay Weisman, review of Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, p. 1295; October 15, 2005, Frances Bradburn, review of M or F?, p. 43; May 15, 2006, Francisca Goldsmith, review of The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, p. 54.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 2006, Karen Coats, review of M or F?, p. 280; September, 2006, Karen Coates, review of The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2005, review of Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, p. 543; September 15, 2005, review of M or F?, p. 1032; April 15, 2006, review of The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, p. 413.

Kliatt, May, 2006, Myrna Marler, review of The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, p. 13.

Publishers Weekly, October, 19, 1998, review of You're in Big Trouble, Brad! and My Pen Pal, Pat, p. 83; August 4, 2003, review of Disney's Build Your Own Haunted Mansion, p. 82; September 22, 2003, review of A Very Lizzie Christmas, p. 74; October 27, 2003, review of Just like Lizzie, p. 71; December 5, 2005, review of M or F?, p. 56; July 17, 2006, Michelle Kung, "Twilight Zone," p. 13.

School Library Journal, December, 1998, Dina Sherman, review of You're in Big Trouble, Brad!, p. 88; May, 2005, Paula J. LaRue, review of Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, p. 134; January, 2006, Morgan Johnson-Doyle, review of M or F?, p. 141.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2005, Chris Carlson, review of Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, p. 135.

ONLINE

Cynsations,http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com (January 1, 2006), Cynthia Leitich Smith, interview with Papademetriou.

Hyperion Books for Children Web site,http://www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com (November 26, 2006), "Lisa Papademetriou." Lisa Papademetriou Home Page,http://www.lisapapa.com (December 19, 2006).