About - Jody Feldman

The Official

Medium-Length Bio

Count me as one of the luckiest people in the world. Not that I’ve won the lottery or anything like that; more that I grew up in an idyllic household with kind, understanding parents and annoying, but fun brothers. I also had supportive, interesting grandparents plus all the aunts, uncles, and cousins you’d want. And now, I’ve grown up to have an amazing family of my own.

Besides that, I’ve written some books, won some awards, and I continue to try and create things people want to read. I wish I could tell you that I’ve visited 43 countries, I’ve held the record for the hundred-meter sprint, and I’ve climbed Mount Everest but those would all be lies. I have however visited 43 states (OR, MT, ID, ND, ME, RI, and WV: I’m aiming for you), I have my personal best record for a 5k, and I’ve climbed up and down all 135 of the Spanish Steps in Rome.
And that is lucky enough!

Longer, but

Somewhat-Odd Bio

Award-winning, middle grade and young adult author Jody Feldman had early thoughts of working as a treasure hunter, a codebreaker, a movie director, and an inventor. Through a series of happenstances, however, she enrolled in the University of Missouri School of Journalism and discovered she really could write. Her middle-grade novels—The Seventh Level and The Gollywhopper Games series (HarperCollins/Greenwillow)—have appeared on 26 state reading lists and have won, among other honors, the Georgia Children’s Book Award and the Grand Canyon Readers Award. School Library Journal calls her debut YA novel, No Way Home (Sourcebooks, 2022), an “excellent choice for any young adult collection… also appropriate for mature middle school readers.” And says that, “Fans of mystery/thrillers with puzzles…will devour this book.”

When she’s not obsessing over the next plot twist, you may find her watching sports, solving puzzles, on the road (just 7 more U.S. states to go), or baking the best secret-recipe oatmeal cookies you’ll ever eat. Jody lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Maybe More Than You Need to Know

A Bio of Sorts

Where do you live?

If you’re asking where you might send a letter through the mail, this should give you a hint.
Jody Feldman
P.O. Box 32032
Saint Louis, MO 63132

Where did you go to school?

I went to two preschools, two elementary schools, one junior high school, and one high school all in the St. Louis area. Then I traveled about 120 miles west to the University of Missouri in Columbia. Go Tigers!

Are your stories related to your life?

They are only related to my life in an “I wish things like this could happen to me” sort of way. In fact, that’s the common thread that runs throughout most of the books I write. I hear something or see something or remember something that sparks an excitement deep in my gut. What if? What if? What if? That’s what I keep asking myself. And when that little crumb of excitement forms a full-fledged idea, that’s the next book I want to write.

Why are there puzzles in some of your books?

I’ve loved riddles and brainteasers and word games for as long as I can remember. That goes for mysteries, too. (And aren’t mysteries puzzles in their own right?) So, it’s not surprising that I grew up in a household filled with crosswords and other puzzles plus an assortment of mystery novels. In fact, my older cousins, who’d read the entire Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys collections, sent me over every one of those books. Now, I have a question for you: If you gravitate toward certain genres, why is that? What are your favorite titles? Drop me a note. I’m always looking for reading suggestions.

What is your best work?

No matter when I answer this question, I like to think my best is the book I’m writing right now. That’s because I also like to think that I learn so much from each writing experience that every time I write a sentence, I become a better writer.

What else can you tell me about you?

I can tell you lots of things but let me stick with some facts that aren’t as random as they appear. Each one reveals a little more.

If you happen to do extremely well in a college course, the department head might ask you to become a teaching assistant for your favorite class.
Once you start growing garlic, the rogue seeds often replant themselves during the next growing season.
My current pets include … well … do dust bunnies count? How about Hubert, the printer mascot
Did you know it was once legal for people to mail out baby alligators from Florida and, sometimes, aunts and grandmothers would send them to family back home as souvenirs? And did you know that a few weeks after shipment, baby alligators are capable of biting clean through a very thick, very leathered work glove when they’re being fed hamburger?
Zoos at that time wouldn’t necessarily accept donations of baby alligators. But five years later, one zoo was thrilled to come pick up a four-foot king snake that had found a cozy home behind a washing machine.
If it takes me 27 minutes to go two miles every weekday morning, how many miles per hour am I averaging? How many ideas do I come up with per mile?
Even if the temperature reads 110 degrees in the portion of the Grand Canyon where the Hualapai Nation leads whitewater rafting trips along the Colorado River, the water that hits you will be around 55 degrees in the summer … but you warm up and dry off very fast.
If your favorite football team beat the opponent by a score of 41-6, what is the maximum amount of times each team could have scored? What is the least? Don’t know football? Hint: a score, typically, consists of either 2, 3, 6, 7, or 8 points. (By the way, in that game, my team scored seven times; the opponent, two. Yay!)
Counting all the burners, ovens and cooking appliances I own, I could be cooking in 12 different places at once. I believe I’ve made it up to eight.
If you get bored in class and you practice writing with your non-dominant hand, you might become competent writing with either.

About Me

Medium-Length Bio

Somewhat-Odd Bio