Children & Young Adults

We are seeing an unprecedented number of stories written for children and young adults that are unique, diverse, and unafraid to take risks – and students across the country are clamoring for more.

The Writing for Children and Young Adults (WCYA) track at Sierra Nevada University is:

One of the only programs of its kind on the West Coast.

The only program in the country in which every student works with an editor in their entire final semester.

Dedicated to fostering each writer’s unique voice.

Boasts a faculty of some of the most successful, cutting edge authors and professionals in children’s literature.

Children need to see themselves in books; they need to be connected to the uniqueness of their own stories. At SNU we train writers to go out into the industry upon graduation armed and ready to meet those challenges.

Cover of "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Sierra Nevada University MFA in Creative Writing faculty Pablo Cartaya

Cover of Peanut Butter and Brains by Joe McGee, faculty in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing at Sierra Nevada University

Book cover of Gloria Takes a Stand, a children's book about feminist trailblazer Gloria Steinem. Author Jessica Rinker is on the MFA in Creative Writing faculty at Sierra Nevada University

Cover of Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero, faculty in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing at Sierra Nevada University

Book cover of Creature Campers The Secret of Shadow Lake by Joe McGee, MFA in Creative Writing faculty at Sierra Nevada University

Book cover of Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya, MFA in Creative Writing faculty at Sierra Nevada University

Cover of My Life with the Lincolns by Gayle Brandeis, faculty in the low residency MFA in Creative Writing at Sierra Nevada University

Cover of Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, faculty in the low residency MFA in Creative Writing at Sierra Nevada University

The MFA is a two-year degree program that consists of five weeklong residencies, in early January and early August, and four distance semesters. For the first three semesters students work with the award-winning authors on our faculty; for the final semester each student works closely with a professional editor who ushers them through the final stages of their manuscript.

Residencies are held on the stunning SNU Tahoe campus, at 6200′ above sea level in the the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In summer, the shoreline of Lake Tahoe is an easy 10 minute walk. In winter, heated sidewalks wind through tall pines. One of every five residencies is held overseas, with the 2017 winter residency in Jamaica.

There is no formula to writing compelling work for children and young adults; the program is dedicated to fostering each writer’s unique voice and craft. The WCYA track at SNU Tahoe is a safe place to challenge yourself to write without fear and from your deepest creative self. We are all writers here. We all have a voice that needs to be heard.

Learn More

Contact Us:

Daniel Davis

MFA-CW Program Coordinator and Graduate Admissions Counselor

dsdavis@sierranevada.edu

775.881.7520

856.364.7910

Writing for Children & Young Adults Faculty

Our faculty are creators and editors of award-winning, New York Times bestselling, and groundbreaking books of literary and commercial quality for children and young adults.

Joe McGee

Writing for Children & Young Adults

Email: jmcgee@sierranevada.eduWebsite: www.joemcgeeauthor.com

Show Bio

Biography

MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts
MA in Writing, Rowan University

Joe McGee is the author of the picture book, Peanut Butter & Brains (Abrams 2015), about which the Kirkus Review said “Run, don’t shamble to get this original zombie tale.” The New York Times praised it for “amusingly unit[ing] the seemingly unrelated contemporary obsessions of zombies and food,” and The Washington Post noted “Joe McGee keeps the story moving with flowing and engaging text.” Peanut Butter & Aliens, a sequel, was published in August, 2017, and Peanut Butter & Santa Claus will be released in 2019.

Joe’s writing has garnered many awards, to include the 2014 Vermont College of Fine Arts Holy Smokes! short story award, the 2013 Vermont College of Fine Arts Critical Essay award, and a Vermont College of Fine Arts merit scholarship. He was the recipient of the 2012 Medallion Award for the outstanding graduate writing student at Rowan University and the winner of the 2012 Denise Gess Literary Prize for Poetry. He has been awarded 1st place honors in fiction, short story writing, YA/teen writing, and poetry from The Philadelphia Writers’ Conference. His short story, Ink Soul, won 2nd place in the 2011 national Writer’s Digest genre fiction awards. Los Angeles Book Prize winner and Printz Honoree, A.S. King, called Joe’s short story, Leaves of Brass, “one of the best short stories” she’d ever read. National Book Award finalist and Newberry Honor recipient, Kathi Appelt, said of Joe’s short story, Tooth Fairy, that it was “one of the most authentic child’s voices” she’d ever read.”

He teaches several Creative Writing classes at Rowan University. He is a former airborne Army platoon leader and the father of three boys, ranging from high school to middle school to elementary school. He is an amateur cartoonist, has flown fixed-wing aircraft, and hiked an active volcano. Joe lives along the river, in a scenic and historic part of New Jersey with his fiancé, also a children’s writer.