Maya Van Wagenen lives in Georgia with her partner and their many pets. Winner of The Schneider Family Book Award for Best Artistic Expression of the Disability Experience, Maya′s second book and first novel, Chronically Dolores, is inspired by her experiences as a teenager with an incurable bladder condition. She is passionate about bringing visibility to youth with chronic illness and validating the questions, fears, and absurdities that accompany a lifelong diagnosis in childhood.
Praise for Chronically Dolores A NYPL Best Book of the Year “Van Wagenen’s fiction debut is a standout with both wide appeal and important, specific representation bolstered by the author’s own life.” —Booklist, starred review “Compassionate prose conveys the protagonists’ experiences with care and thoughtful, complex characterizations approachably highlight life’s ambiguity.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “An insightful, funny, and realistic coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus Praise for Maya Van Wagenen's Popular YALSA Award Winner for Excellence in Nonfiction New York Times Bestseller “I was inspired by her journey.... Maybe if I had read Popular when I was [Van Wagenen's] age, it could have saved me from a world of hurt, or at least put that world in perspective.” —Maude Apatow for the New York Times Book Review “Everyone’s happiness project looks different, and I was utterly charmed by Maya Van Wagenen’s honest, funny, and thought-provoking account of her efforts to become ‘popular.’” —Gretchen Rubin, #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project