Lisa McMann

Lisa McMann (born February 27, 1968) is an American author and the creator of The Unwanteds and The Unwanteds Quests series for young readers and the WAKE trilogy for young adults.

Biography

McMann was born Lisa Dawn Gort on February 27, 1968 in Holland, Michigan to Glenda (née Bouwer; born 1940) and Morris G. Gort (1939–2023). She graduated from Calvin College in 1990. Her first novel, WAKE, debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list for children's chapter books. She is also the author of FADE, which debuted on the New York Times best-seller list and remained there eleven weeks, and of GONE, the last book in the WAKE series, which was released February 2010.

McMann has published many short stories, including the creative nonfiction essay, "When You're Ten", featured in Literary Mama, and the award-winning short story, "The Day of the Shoes", in 2004. One year later, her story, "Like Waves on Rocks" was published in the Gator Springs Gazette. McMann's short stories are written for adult audiences while her novels are intended for young adults.

Awards

"The Day of the Shoes" (short story): 2004 Templeton International Power of Purpose Award

WAKE: American Library Association 2009 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

WAKE: 2008 Cybil Award Finalist

WAKE: Abraham Lincoln Book Award Master List (IL)

WAKE: Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)

WAKE: Gateway Readers Award Nominee (MO)

WAKE: Georgia Peach Book Award Master List

WAKE: IRA Young Adults' Choices

WAKE: Nevada Young Reader's Award Nominee

WAKE: Texas Tayshas Reading List

WAKE: Young Adult Reading Program Reading List Selection (SD)

Cryer's Cross: American Library Association 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults

Cryer's Cross: American Library Association 2012 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers

Dead to You: American Library Association 2013 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers

Dead to You: IRA Young Adults' Choices

The Unwanteds: Maine Student Book Award Master Listt

The Unwanteds: North Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nomineet

The Unwanteds: Truman Reader Award Nominee (MO)t

Crash: American Library Association 2014 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers

Crash: MSTA Reading Circle List

Bang: MSTA Reading Circle List

Published works

Wake trilogy

WAKE (2008)

FADE (2009)

GONE (2010)

The Unwanteds

The Unwanteds (2011)

The Unwanteds: Island of Silence (2012)

The Unwanteds: Island of Fire (2013)

The Unwanteds: Island of Legends (2014)

The Unwanteds: Island of Shipwrecks (2015)

The Unwanteds: Island of Graves (2015)

The Unwanteds: Island of Dragons (2016)

The Unwanteds Quests

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Captives (2017)

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Bones (2018)

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Ghosts (2019)

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Curse (2019)

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Fire (2020)

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Slayers (2020)

The Unwanteds Quests: Dragon Fury (2021)

Visions trilogy

Crash (2013)

Bang (2013)

Gasp (2014)

Going Wild series

Going Wild (2016)

Predator Vs. Prey (2017)

Clash of Beasts (2018)

Forgotten Five series

The Forgotten Five: Map of Flames (2022)

The Forgotten Five: The Invisible Spy (2022)

The Forgotten Five: Rebel Undercover (2023)

The Forgotten Five: Dangerous Allies (2024)

The Forgotten Five: Operation Chaos (2025)

The Forgotten Five: Masters of Disguise (2025)

Other books

Cryer's Cross (2011)

Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories (2011)

Dead To You (2012)

The Trap Door (Infinity Ring #3) (2013)

Clarice the Brave (2021)

WAKE trilogy translations

The WAKE trilogy has been translated into the following languages (note: not all of the books are out in these countries):

Novo Seculo / Portuguese (Brazil only)

Wisdom Distribution Service / Chinese (complex)

Kelly Kiado / Hungarian

Newton Compton / Italian

Everest / Spanish

Atlin Kitaplar / Turkish

Patakis / Greek

PT Gramedia / Indonesian

Amarin / Thai

Boje Verlag / German

WYDAWNICTWO / Polish

Everest Editora / Portuguese (Portugal)

Personal life

Lisa married fellow writer and musician Matt McMann on May 31, 1991. Together they have two children, a son who is an artist named Kilian McMann (b. 1993) and a daughter who is an actress named Kennedy McMann (b. 1996). Kennedy was cast in Nancy Drew as the titular character, in a CW series. They currently live in Tempe, Arizona.