Author Bios

Pam McGaffin is an author whose writing for young adults reflects a commitment to authentic storytelling grounded in the emotional realities of adolescence. Drawing on her background in journalism and communications, McGaffin brings a clear-eyed, observational quality to her fiction, writing about the complicated inner lives of teenage characters with honesty and empathy. Her work…

Louis Sachar was born on March 20, 1954, in East Meadow, New York, and grew up in Tustin, California. He attended UC Berkeley, where he studied economics, and it was during his college years that he first began working with children — volunteering as a teacher’s aide at a local elementary school in exchange for…

Sharon Creech was born on July 29, 1945, in South Euclid, Ohio, the middle of five children in a large, storytelling family whose warmth would color her fiction throughout her career. She attended Hiram College in Ohio and George Mason University, and spent nearly twenty years living and teaching in England and Switzerland, experiences that…

Scott O’Dell was born on May 23, 1898, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up with an intimate knowledge of the American West and its complex history. He attended Occidental College, the University of Wisconsin, Stanford University, and the University of Rome, and worked for many years as a cameraman and journalist before turning to…

Mark Qualman is an author whose work in fiction for young readers reflects a genuine passion for storytelling and a commitment to engaging his audience with narratives that entertain while also illuminating something true about human experience. Drawing on his own background and observations, Qualman brings an authentic sensibility to the characters and situations he…

Natalie Babbitt was born on July 28, 1932, in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up with a deep love of art and literature. She attended Smith College in Massachusetts, where she studied art, and began her career as an illustrator before transitioning to writing. Her early picture books, several of which she wrote and illustrated in…

Holly Black was born on November 10, 1971, in West Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in a crumbling Victorian house filled with books on folklore and fairy tales that sparked her lifelong obsession with faeries and the uncanny. She attended Rutgers University, where she studied library science, and began writing seriously in her…

Sabaa Tahir was born in London, England, and grew up in the Mojave Desert of California, where her parents ran a motel. Her background as a Pakistani American woman raised in a small desert town, combined with her deep love of fantasy literature and history, shaped the distinctive voice and perspective she would bring to…

Rick Riordan was born on June 5, 1964, in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up with a deep fascination for mythology, history, and storytelling. He studied English and history at the University of Texas at Austin and later earned a teaching degree, going on to spend fifteen years teaching English and history at the middle…

Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961, in Potsdam, New York, and grew up in a family where storytelling was a natural part of daily life. Her father was a Methodist minister, and Anderson has spoken about how her upbringing shaped her sense of narrative and her moral orientation toward the world. She…