Meredith Russo Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Meredith Russo is a published American author.

Russo was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She grew up there and lived there for some time. She currently resides in Brooklyn in New York. Joining her is Shadow, her cat. She has a lot of books in her apartment, perhaps more than she admits might be the responsible amount to have there.

Russo enjoys spending time lifting weights, playing games that involve fighting, taking her turn to hold the microphone at karaoke, looking at the pile of books that she has that she wants to read, and working on something new that she’s writing.

Russo decided in the late tail end of 2013 that she was going to begin living her life as who she truly is. She has not looked back since then. She transitioned that year and is now living life as a transgender woman. Her first novel, If I Was Your Girl, ended up being somewhat inspired by her own experiences being trans. She can relate to the character of Amanda because she is also a nerd and spends much of the time that she has being into video games as well as the Star Wars franchise.

The novel came out in 2016 and did very well. It got a lot of positive reviews and several awards. It was the first young adult book that was widely distributed to feature transgender teens and to be written by a real life transgender woman based on real events in her life. The author’s goal was to come out with a book that had a character that was transgender that ended happily. The book was published by Flatiron Books and is all about a girl that is trans that goes to a different school, falling for a boy in the process.

The book would win in the Young Adult category for the Stonewall Book Award in 2017. In 2017 it also won in Outstanding Children’s Literature for the Walter Dean Myers Award. It has gotten starred and positive reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews.

On top of writing about the transgender community and people that identify as such, Russo also campaigns to raise awareness about HIV as well as promote de-stigmatization.

Her second book for young adults is titled Birthday. It was published in 2019 by Flatiron Books. The book is meant to be a follow up novel to the first book that Russo released. Both follow the lives of teens that have crossing paths that begin when they both turn thirteen years old. On top of her novels, she has written several short fiction works and essays. They have been published in places such as Vintage, Radical Hope, Algonquin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Out Now: Queer We Go Again, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, Elle, Meet Cute, and The New York Times.

If I Was Your Girl is the first novel to come out from author Meredith Russo. This is the story of a girl named Amanda. She may seem just like any other girl, and you might think that she is the girl that has everything. But in this story, it’s all about being recognized for the person that you really are inside.

Amanda is eighteen years old and suddenly has a lot going for her in life. She is not only pretty, but she’s popular as well. Some people looking at it from the outside might think that everything about her life is easy and nothing is too difficult for her because it’s all handed to her. But the truth is that when it comes to being Amanda, being herself hasn’t always been that easy.

Even when it comes to her name, things aren’t quite that simple. Amanda was born as Andrew, and that was her name for a while. She’s since moved to a new school, and it feels like for the first time in a long time, she can live as herself. She’s even making new friends, but is starting to get confused when it comes to the question of whether she should open up about her past.

She thought that she was not going to grow close with any of the students at her school, but somehow that plan didn’t work out. Now she’s got the burden of having a secret and not being sure who to tell, if anyone. Things are actually working out pretty well, and Amanda isn’t sure whether it’s worth it to be honest about things in her life when it could mean that everything gets ruined as a result.

Making things even more complicated is a guy named Grant. He’s so laid back and really sweet. Once they meet, Amanda just lets him in naturally. They get to know each other better, but the more time that they spend together, the more that she’s realizing that keeping her walls up just isn’t going to work forever. She’s been trying to protect her heart, but wants to share who she really is as a person with Grant.

This is the one person that she’s worried about being honest with. What if he gets stuck on what she tells him? What does she do then? Amanda’s worried that her past is going to ruin the present, and all of the great things about her new world are going to come crashing down. Can Amanda ever be with Grant? Read this book for yourself to find out!

Birthday is the second novel to come out from Meredith Russo. Eric and Morgan are two people. Not only were they born the same time on the very same exact day, but they have a bond that might just last for life.

The story is told from two points of view. The reader sees them on their birthdays going on from age thirteen. Eric starts to find his place, figuring out his identity and who he is in the world, and Morgan chooses that she’s going to live authentically and honor who she really is.

As they both go on a journey, shared and apart, Eric and Morgan might just find out that when it comes to the other, they’re linked for life. Read this book and get the full story!