Susan Mary Cooper is an English author of children's books. She is best known for The Dark Is Rising, a contemporary fantasy series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the Arthurian legends and Welsh folk heroes. For that work, in 2012 she won the lifetime Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association, recognizing her contribution to writing for teens. In the 1970s two of the five novels were named the year's best English-language book with an "authentic Welsh background" by the Welsh Books Council. In 2024, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named her the 40th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.
Lesléa Newman is an American author, editor, and feminist best known for the children's book Heather Has Two Mommies. Four of her young adult novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, making her one of the most celebrated authors in the category.
Megan Whalen Turner is an American writer of fantasy fiction for young adults. She is best known for her novel The Thief and its five sequels. In 1997, The Thief was named a Newbery Honor book.
Deb Caletti is an American writer of young adult and adult fiction. Caletti is a National Book Award finalist, and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book medalist, as well as the recipient of other numerous awards including the PEN USA finalist award, the Josette Frank Award for Fiction, the Washington State Book Award, and SLJ Best Book award. Caletti's books feature the Pacific Northwest, and her young adult work is popular for tackling difficult issues typically reserved for adult fiction. Her first adult fiction novel, He's Gone, was published by Random House in 2013, and was followed by several other books for adults, in addition to her many books for teens.
Martha Elizabeth "Libba" Bray is an American writer of young adult novels including the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Going Bovine, and The Diviners.
If I Had One Wish is a young adult novel by Jackie French Koller, about a teenager named Alec Lansing, whose little brother Stevie is always getting him in trouble. The book was first published in 1991.
Richard Wayne Peck was an American novelist known for his contributions to modern young adult literature. He was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2001 for his novel A Year Down Yonder. He received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1990.
Lauren Myracle is an American writer of young adult fiction. She has written many novels, including the three best-selling "IM" books, ttyl, ttfn and l8r, g8r. Her book Thirteen Plus One was released May 4, 2010.
Jennifer Donnelly is an American writer best known for the young adult historical novel A Northern Light.
Ellen Wittlinger was an American author of young adults novels, including the Michael L. Printz Honor book Hard Love.
Julie Bertagna is a Scottish author who has written real life and science fiction novels for children and young adults. Her books have been shortlisted for several literature awards, including the Carnegie Medal. Her novel Exodus was the winner of the Lancashire County Library Children's Book of the Year Award. Soundtrack, her second novel for young adults, won a Scottish Arts Council Award, the second highest award ever given to a Scottish children's writer.
Sharon Mills Draper is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a two-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience. She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun,Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.
Burned is a young adult novel written by American author Ellen Hopkins and published in April 2006. Like all of Ellen Hopkin's works, the novel is unusual for its free verse format.
Denene Millner is an American author, editor, television and podcast host, and journalist. She has authored more than 30 books, including six New York Times best sellers. She is the creator and director of Denene Millner Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and MyBrownBaby.com, a critically acclaimed blog that examines the intersection of parenting and race.
Meg Medina is an American children’s book author of Cuban descent whose books celebrate Latino culture and the lives of young people. She is the 2023 – 2024 National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. Medina is the recipient of the 2019 John Newbery Medal for her middle grade novel, Merci Suárez Changes Gears and the Pura Belpré Award for Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass (2014) and the Pura Belpré Award Honor Book in 2016 for Mango, Abuela and Me).
Ali Benjamin is an American author living in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Angie Thomas is an American young adult author, best known for writing The Hate U Give (2017). Her second young adult novel, On the Come Up, was released on February 25, 2019.
Kristin Sims Levine is an American novelist who authored The Lions of Little Rock, a New-York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize winner. It is a fictional story about friendship based around true historical events of the Little Rock Nine in Little Rock, Arkansas. In September 2019, it was announced that rights to Lions was optioned for development of a featured film. Levine has written other historical fictional books, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had and The Paper Cowboy, which take place during the United States' entry into World War I and McCarthyism era America of the 1950s, respectively. Levine's most recent book, The Jigsaw Jungle, is about a daughter who discovers a family secret. Levine currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her two daughters.
Julie Buxbaum is an American lawyer and novelist, who specializes in young adult novels. Her first two novels were written for adults, but Buxbaum has told interviewers she enjoys writing for a younger audience to connect with the sense of freedom open to younger readers.
YamileSaied Méndez is an Argentine American author of picture books, children's books, young adult books, and adult romance. She is a Pura Belpré gold medal winner for her young adult novel, Furia. She is a founding member of Las Musas collective.
