Biography

For downloadable author photos, book covers, book-specific bios, and book information, please visit my Media Kit page!

A. J. Sass is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is an award winning and critically acclaimed author of books for young readers, including Just Shy of Ordinary (2025 Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor), Camp QUILTBAG, co-written with Nicole Melleby (2024 ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 Title; Golden Poppy Award finalist), Ellen Outside the Lines (2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor; 2023 ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 Title; multiple state awards list nominations), and Ana on the Edge (2021 ALA Rainbow Book list Top 10 Title; Bank Street College of Education selection; multiple state awards list nominations). Many of his books have also been Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.

Andrew’s debut picture book is Shabbat Is …, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. His short stories and essays have also appeared in the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf), Allies (DK/PRH), On All Other Nights (Abrams), Athlete is Agender (Christy Ottaviano/Little, Brown), and No Brain the Same (Charlesbridge) anthologies.

When he’s not writing, Andrew figure skates, tinkers with typewriters, and travels as much as possible. Originally from Minnesota, he currently divides his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and northwestern Vermont with his husband. Visit him online at sassinsf.com and follow him on Bluesky and Instagram.

Andrew is represented by Jordan Hamessley at JABberwocky Literary Agency.

Notables

Essays

Interviews

Scholarships, Craft Mentorships, etc.

  • Mentor: We Need Diverse Books, 2023
  • Mentor: Author Mentor Match, 2021
  • Mentor: Pitch Wars, 2021 & 2019 (co-mentor with Nicole Melleby)
  • Mentor: #WriteMentor, 2019 & 2020 (co-mentor with Hannah Kates)
  • Mentee: #WriteMentor, 2018 (paired with author Caroline Murphy)
  • SCBWI Diverse New Member Scholarship: San Francisco North and East Bay, 2018 (writer category)
  • Diversity Scholarship: Children’s Book Academy, 2018 Middle Grade Mastery class

Et Cetera

  • Judge: 2020 Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards, in partnership with We Need Diverse Books
  • Reader: 2019 & 2020 #WriteMentor Children’s Novel Award
  • Judge: 2017 Shut Up & Write! Zine
  • Co-editor: Chelsea Station Magazine, August 2016 edition (featuring queer trans masculine writing)

Just the Facts

Name: I write under my initials A. J., but feel free to call me Andrew 🙂

Pronouns: He/him/his or they/their/them – your choice!

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California and a teeny, tiny town in NW Vermont, just south of the Canadian border.

Origin: I call California and Vermont my homes now but I grew up all over the Midwest and South. At various points in my life, I lived in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Georgia. I tend consider Minnesota as my home state since I spent the better part of my childhood in Rochester and graduated from high school and college in Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs.

Relationship (two-legged): Deven, my creative and wonderfully witty partner.

Relationship (four-legged): Caffrey, a two-year-old kitten who trills his own superhero theme songs when he plays and runs around. Noa, a four-year-old Doberman/lab mix (a dobrador, if you will!) who has never met a ball she didn’t love to pieces (literally).

I also used to have a miracle kitty, Alistair, who survived FIP and lived until age 13 despite having a congenital heart condition, plus two black cats, Boscoe and Amato (Amo), who were the best boys ever. They may have passed a while back but will stay in my heart forever.

Education:

  • I studied psychology, Jewish studies, history, and languages (mostly Semitic, plus French) at the University of Minnesota.
  • I attended law school at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

Hobbies:

  • Cartwheels on ice
  • Willing people and plots into existence with the mere tippety-tap of my fingers
  • Learning languages
  • Traveling to new places (bonus points if they have ice rinks or super-cool libraries)
  • Tea-tasting
  • Latte sampling
  • Typewriter fixing up and collecting (and also admiring)
  • High-volume book accrual (which is a different hobby from actually reading them, my mile-high TBR would like me to point out!)