I.W.

Gregorio

Young Adult Novelist

Advocate for Intersex Youth

Travels from: Philadelphia, PA

“Gregorio delivers a warm, honest, and timely story about friendship, family, love and asking for help when you need it.” – Mary McCoy, author of Printz Honor Book I, Claudia

I. W. Gregorio (she/her) is a practicing surgeon by day, award-winning YA writer by night. Her debut novel, None of the Above was a Lambda Literary Finalist, a Publishers Weekly Flying Start, and named to the ALA Rainbow List, among other honors. It has also been banned by the Leander, TX School District, and is on the infamous “Krause List” that Texas Rep. Matt Krause worries “might make students feel discomfort.”

Her second novel, This is My Brain in Love, was an Amazon Best Book, and won the 2021 Schneider Family Book Award. She is proud to be board member of interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, and is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books™ and its former VP of Development. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Newsweek, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, New York Daily News, Scientific American and Journal of General Internal Medicine, among others. A recovering ice hockey player, she lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.

IW Gregorio’s Authors Out Loud Profile:

I.W.'s Featured Titles

This Is My Brain in Love

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |

April 14, 2020

Young Adult

A Schneider Family Book Award winner!
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year!

Told in dual narrative, This Is My Brain in Love is a stunning YA contemporary romance, exploring mental health, race, and, ultimately self-acceptance, for fans of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and Emergency Contact.

Jocelyn Wu has just three wishes for her junior year: To make it through without dying of boredom, to direct a short film with her BFF Priya Venkatram, and to get at least two months into the year without being compared to or confused with Peggy Chang, the only other Chinese girl in her grade. Will Domenici has two goals: to find a paying summer internship, and to prove he has what it takes to become an editor on his school paper.

Then Jocelyn’s father tells her their family restaurant may be going under, and all wishes are off. Because her dad has the marketing skills of a dumpling, it’s up to Jocelyn and her unlikely new employee, Will, to bring A-Plus Chinese Garden into the 21st century (or, at least, to Facebook).
What starts off as a rocky partnership soon grows into something more. But family prejudices and the uncertain future of A-Plus threaten to keep Will and Jocelyn apart. It will take everything they have and more, to save the family restaurant and their budding romance.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage, Fiction, Kid-Lit: Young Adult, Romance & Romantacy

None of the Above

Balzer + Bray |

April 7, 2015

Young Adult

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she’s intersex . . . and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She’s a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she’s madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she’s decided that she’s ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin’s first time isn’t the perfect moment she’s planned—something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy “parts.”

Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin’s entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Fiction, Gender & Sexuality, Kid-Lit: Young Adult, LGBTQI+ Concerns & Perspectives

Has Medicine Failed the Intersex Community? - (And can literature save it?)

We Need Diverse Books: An Insider's Story

IW talks about the genesis and early days of We Need Diverse and its impact on publishing (and the world).

When Words Heal

As the REM song says, “everybody hurts, sometimes”. Despite the huge increase in mental health awareness across the world, suicide rates are the highest they’ve been in twenty years. One in five American youth will have a diagnosable mental illness by the time they’re 18, yet 60% of kids with anxiety and depression aren’t getting treated.
In this presentation, IW draws upon her own experience with anxiety and depression and talks about how books saved her life twice: first when she was a lonely child looking for empathy and compassion, and second when she was an adult seeking to find meaning and navigate her life. She’ll talk about why sshe wrote This is My Brain on Love: to destigmatize mental illness, and help kids navigate the treatment options to find a path towards happiness even as they live with anxiety and depression.

Know What You Write

There’s an old saying that people who want to become authors should “write what they know.” But the opposite is true. Authors shouldn’t be limited by their own experiences, but they should be responsible about the level of research they put into writing about subjects that are outside their experience because perpetuating stereotypes can be harmful. In this presentation, IW will talk about tools creators can use to make sure the representation in their art informed and complex.

All the Ways You Can Be a Writer

Aspiring writers often ask questions about how to be a writer, as if there were a one true path to success. IW is living proof that one can take a long and circuitous path to writing a novel – and indeed she knows writers who were formerly doctors, lawyers, musicians, dancers, and baristas. All you need to do to be a writer is to have a story, and want a voice. In this presentation, IW talks about how people can find the stories embedded in their own lives and make them grow.

BANNED: When an Author Becomes Public Enemy #1

IW talks about her experience when None of the Above was challenged, and discusses how parents and librarians can navigate difficult subjects and support diverse books, which are disproportionately banned.

Stacey Lee, award winning author of Outrun the Moon
“Authentic and fresh, I.W. Gregorio serves up a first-rate romance between two teens whose differences may prove too hot to handle. This is my bookish heart in love.”

Mary McCoy, author of Printz Honor Book I, Claudia
“Anxiety and depression can turn your brain into a fake news factory. With THIS IS MY BRAIN IN LOVE, I.W. Gregorio delivers a warm, honest, and timely story about friendship, family, love and asking for help when you need it. The chemistry between Jocelyn and Will is so crackling and irresistible, you’ll fall in love, too.”

Kelly Loy Gilbert, author of Lost Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist Picture Us in the Light
“Sweet, funny and full of feeling, This is My Brain in Love is a heartfelt and earnest look at mental health in the Asian American community. Gregorio captures so many truths about living with anxiety and depression in a story full of humor, wisdom and generosity. This is a book I needed as a teenager.”

Dr. Gregorio’s Upcoming Events

Resources for Intersex Youth

Mental Health Resources

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Amazon.com Editors Pick for Best YA Books of April
Buzzfeed Young Adult Romance You Absolutely Must Read This Spring
Spring 2015 Publisher’s Weekly Flying Start
Finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Award
2015 ABC Children’s Group Best Book for Young Readers
Booklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth
2016 American Library Association Rainbow List Selection