About
Phoebe Sinclair writes lyrical contemporary fiction featuring young people of color. She sold her first middle grade novel in 2019, to be published by Candlewick Press in August 2023. Other works-in progress include, an urban fantasy novel manuscript, a full-length YA graphic novel script, a graphic ‘novella’ for young readers, and several picture book manuscripts. She's a budding zinester and fan fiction writer. Past projects have included lyrics for a progressive rock music project, the book for theatrical workshop of Alice in Wonderland, and a monologue performed at a dance concert.
Sinclair holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She won the PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award in 2006 for a YA novel manuscript. In 2018, she was the Ivan Gold Fellow at the Writer's Room of Boston.
Sinclair works at two Cambridge-based non-profits: at the former she facilitates monthly meetings and writes and produces The Whistler, a community news source in continuous publication since 1970; and at the latter she supports groups and communities to build skills to communicate across difference.
Sinclair has joyfully resided in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston for a decade with her partner, a musician and graphic designer. In her off-time, she can be found biking Boston, visiting with friends, scoping out new libraries, and knitting. She blogs at: phoebesinclairwrites.com.
Featured Work
Confessions of a Candy Snatcher
For the past few years, twelve-year-old Jonas and his friends have competed to see how many bags of candy they can grab from unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. No one’s supposed to get hurt, just lose their treats. So Jonas is taken by surprise when one of his smaller targets fights back against his snatching attempt. He’s even more surprised when he starts to receive anonymous notes from someone who knows what happened that night. Jonas already has enough on his plate, between his parents’ ill-defined separation and his own guilt—guilt his friend Concepción challenges him to confront in a zine she’s creating around the prompt “What’s the worst thing you ever did?” It’s a complicated question, one that touches on issues of identity, maturity, physical boundaries, and safety. Featuring zines crafted by award-winning illustrator Theodore Taylor III, Phoebe Sinclair’s debut novel relates an emotive, reflective story about the wonder—and mess—of growing up.
A night of Halloween fun gone wrong has Jonas wondering if he’s really a wolf in disguise in this fast-paced fiction debut delving into accountability, relationships . . . and zines.
