He moved to the United States to attend university at New York University where he studied film and film-writing.[6] Korman received a BFA from New York University in 1985;[1] with a degree in dramatic visual writing and a minor in motion picture and television.
Career
Korman wrote his first book when he was 12 years old, as part of an English class taught by a PE teacher in 7th grade.[7] This became the manuscript for This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, the first book in his Macdonald Hall series.[1] Korman was the Scholastic Arrow Book Club monitor for the class; after completing the assignment, he mailed his manuscript to Scholastic.[6]This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall was published by Scholastic Press in 1978 when Korman was only 14 years old.[1] Before graduating from high school in Thornhill, Ontario, Korman wrote and published five books.[5]
Korman has written 105 books,[8] with his hundredth being The Fort. His books have sold more than 35 million copies[citation needed] in a career that has spanned four decades.
Three Macdonald Hall series books were TV adapted as the "Bruno & Boots" miniseries, with Go Jump in the Pool, This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, and The War with Mr. Wizzle (as The Wizzle War). It starred Jonny Gray, Callan Potter and Peter Keleghan. It debuted on April 1, 2016, firstly with Go Jump In The Pool, on the Canadian network YTV.[12] The other two adaptations aired on YTV the next year on the same day.
Other optioned books include No Coins, Please, I Want to Go Home, the Island trilogy and The Twinkie Squad.[1]
Awards and recognition
Air Canada Award for promising authors in Canada, at age 17[13]
1991 Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award (chosen by Manitoba schoolchildren), The Zucchini Warriors (1988)[14]
1999 ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, The Toilet Paper Tigers (1993)[15]
2003 Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (chosen by Pacific NW schoolchildren), Intermediate Division (Grades 7–9), No More Dead Dogs (2003)[18]
2004 ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Jake Reinvented (2003)[19]
2005 PNLA Young Reader's Choice Award – Intermediate, Son of the Mob (2002)[18]
2010 PNLA Young Reader's Choice Award – Intermediate, Schooled (2007)[18]
2010–2011 Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (by a vote of Arkansas schoolchildren), Swindle (2008)[20][21]
2011–2012 Charlie May Simon Award, Zoobreak (2009)[20][21]