Wendy Mass was born to Norman and Linda Mass on April 22, 1967 in Livingston, New Jersey. She first became interested in writing in fifth grade after she co-wrote a short story with her sisters, and by the time she was in high school, she knew that she wanted to be an author. She took writing classes and worked at local libraries to hone her writing skills. Mass wrote many short stories during her undergraduate education at Tufts University, and after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English, she moved to Los Angeles. There, she tried out a number of careers, including assisting a literary agent, editing magazines, and reading scripts for film producers. However, Mass soon realized that she wanted to inspire others through writing, so she moved back to the East Coast and started writing books. During this time, she earned a masters degree in English from California State University at Long Beach, M.A. and a doctor of letters degree from Drew University.

Over the course of her career, Mass has written 29 novels for teens, including A Mango-Shaped Space, The Willow Falls series, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, and The Candymakers. She has won numerous awards for her novels, including the American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award for A Mango-Shaped Space. She was also given the title of 2018 Author of the Year by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. When she isn’t writing, Mass enjoys geocaching, engaging in virtual reality, and performing magic tricks. She currently lives in northwest New Jersey with her husband and children.