Draft:Andrew Joseph White

Andrew Joseph White is an American young adult fiction author. He is best known for New York Times bestselling dystopian young adult novel Hell Followed With Us (2022).

Early life and education
White began writing stories about queer people when he was 12 years old.

He went to Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia, graduating in 2016. While in high school, he participated in the nonprofit Project Write program.

White graduated from George Mason University in 2022 with an MFA in Creative Writing.

Career
White's books center LGBT characters and themes. PASTE magazine described his writing as "filled with difficult truths, righteous fury, and complex queer characters". His desire to write about LGBT characters was inspired by the many anti-transgender laws begin passed in state legislatures. White's work has been recommended by many other LGBT authors, including T.J. Klune. In a 2022 interview, he said that many transgender people feel drawn to the horror genre because of "themes like social transgression, vulnerability, and alienation".

White was a major contributor to the #LGBTWIP writing movement on Twitter between 2018-2020. He also participated in the #TransBooks365 Twitter campaign in 2021.

Hell Followed With Us (2022)
White's debut young adult novel, Hell Followed With Us (2022), was published to positive reviews. It was a finalist for the Young Adult Library Services Association's 2023 Morris Award. Before its publication, it was featured by Lambda Literacy as one of June 2022's most highly anticipated LGBTQIA+ young adult novels. Hell Followed With Us was ranked #10 on the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list in August 2022, and was included in The Year-To-Date 2023 Indie Bestsellers List by the American Booksellers Association. Paste Magazine listed it as one of the Best YA Books of 2022. The book has also received praise for its disability representation, as the main character is autistic. White cited videogames Far Cry 5 and Dead Space as inspiration for the book, as well as Alexander Gordon Smith’s Escape from Furnace series. Author V. E. Tirado commissioned a custom binder based on the novel, gaining significant attention.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth (2023)
White's sophomore novel The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was published on September 5, 2023. It was listed as one of The Observer's Best New Books of 2023, with the newspaper noting, "White brilliantly spins a novel that deftly explores gender roles and queerness in a strict, laced-up society." Paste Magazine also listed it as one of their Best YA Books of 2023, marking the second time one of White's novels would make the list. The Southern Bookseller Review described The Spirit Bares Its Teeth as a necessary addition to LGBTQ and horror literature. It was featured as a 2024 Stonewall Book Award Honoree.

Future releases
White signed a deal with publisher Daphne Press for Hell Followed With Us, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, and an upcoming third novel to be released in the UK. His next novel, Compound Fracture, is a YA thriller set in West Virginia, and is slated for publication in September 2024. White's adult debut, You Weren’t Meant to be Human, is scheduled for publication in 2025.

Personal life
White is a queer transgender man. He says he had his first "gender crisis" at age 16, but didn't come to terms with his trans identity until several years later.