Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He discovered a talent for drawing as a child and pursued this interest through college. He got a BFA from the University of Arizona, where he met his physicist wife, Marie. Adam and Marie live in Tucson, where Adam draws, paints, writes, spends too much time on the Internet, and listens to public radio. His first novel, The True Meaning of Smekday, was the 2011 Odyssey Award Winner.