Margolis, Leslie

Personal

Female. Education: B.A. (political science); M.A. (social anthropology).

Addresses

Home and office—Brooklyn, NY. E-mail—leslie@lesliemargolis.com.

Career

Author. Worked previously as an editor and freelance writer. 826nyc, instructor at young-adult writing workshops.

Writings

Fix, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2006.

Price of Admission, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2007.

Boys Are Dogs, Bloomsbury USA (New York, NY), 2008.

Sidelights

It took many years for middle-grade and young-adult author Leslie Margolis to realize that she wanted to pursue a career as a writer; as she noted on her home page, her decision to become an author "started with my passion for reading." At first Margolis pursued several other avenues, working as an editor and obtaining a graduate degree in social anthropology. With regard to her career, she commented: "I was in denial for a long time. Mostly because I didn't understand how people became writers." A job ghost writing for one publisher led to television and magazine writing and in 2006, Margolis published her first young-adult novel, Fix. In an online interview for Common Sense Media, Margolis remarked that her goal as a writer is to "keep readers entertained, while making them think."

In Fix Margolis triggers reader imagination by investigating the many ramifications of plastic surgery. The novel's protagonists are teen sisters Cameron and Allie. Cameron receives a nose job as a gift from her mother and contemplates getting breast augmentation as well. In contrast, Allie is an athletic teen who snubs her nose at plastic surgery and is content with her physical appearance. School Library Journal reviewer Michelle Roberts noted of Fix that Margolis approaches the controversial topic of plastic surgery for teens "evenhandedly, showing how it can be positive, but also excessive and extremely painful."

Margolis explores gender relations in Boys Are Dogs, her first novel for middle-grade readers. In the story, sixth grader Annabelle Stevens has difficulty dealing with her first time at a co-ed school—at least until she trains her new puppy and learns that many of the same lessons can also be applied to unruly preteen boys.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Kliatt, November, 2006, Amanda MacGregor, review of Fix, p. 21; May, 2007, Amanda MacGregor, review of Price of Admission, p. 25.

Publishers Weekly, November 27, 2006, review of Fix, p. 52.

School Library Journal, October, 2006, Michelle Roberts, review of Fix, p. 162; May, 2007, G. Alyssa Parkinson, review of Price of Admission, p. 138.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2007, Ria Newhouse, review of Fix, p. 528; August, 2007, Lucy Schall, review of Price of Admission, p. 246.

ONLINE

Children's Bookwatch Web site,http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (January, 2007), review of Fix.

Common Sense Media Web site,http://www.commonsenseblog.org/ (December 21, 2006), interview with Margolis.

Leslie Margolis Home Page,http://www.lesliemargolis.com/ (January 3, 2008).