Dear Bully (28 page)

DEBORAH KERBEL
is the author of
Lure, Girl on the Other Side
, and
Mackenzie, Lost and Found
.
Girl on the Other Side
, which deals with the subject of bullying in school, was shortlisted by the Canadian Library Association for its Young Adult Book Award. Born in London, Deborah currently lives and writes in Thornhill, Ontario, with her husband and two children. Visit her online at www.deborahkerbel.com.

A. S. KING
is the author of the ALA Best Book for Young Adults
The Dust of 100 Dogs
; the Michael L. Printz Honor Book
Please Ignore Vera Dietz
, described as “deeply suspenseful and profoundly human” by
Publishers Weekly
, and
Everybody Sees the Ants
. Recently returned from Ireland, where she spent more than a decade living off the land, breeding rare poultry, teaching literacy, and writing novels, she now lives deep in the Pennsylvania woods with her husband and children. Learn more online at www.as-king.com.

JO KNOWLES
, author of
Lessons from a Dead Girl
,
Jumping Off Swings
, and
Pearl
, lives in Vermont with her husband and son. Visit her online at www.joknowles.com or follow her blog at www.jbknowles.livejournal.com.

AMY GOLDMAN KOSS
is the author of several novels, including
The Not-So-Great Depression
,
Poison Ivy
, and
Side Effects
. She lives in California with her husband and children. Visit her online at www.amygoldmankoss.net.

STEPHANIE KUEHNERT
was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1979. She got her start like most authors by writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades back in the eighth grade, also around the time she discovered punk rock. Stephanie is the author of
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
and
Ballads of Suburbia.
Visit her online at www.stephaniekuehnert.com.

Although
ERIC LUPER
took his fair share of being force-fed grass on the soccer field and being pushed into his locker after gym class, he found himself on the other side of it all a stronger, more compassionate human being. Now he is the author of numerous books for young people, including
Jeremy Bender vs. the Cupcake Cadets
and
Seth Baumgartner’s Love Manifesto
. (By the way, guess how many of those bullies have written books? None!) To learn more, visit Eric online at www.ericluper.com.

CAROLYN MACKLER
is the author of the Michael L. Printz Honor Book
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
,
Tangled
,
Guyaholic
,
Vegan Virgin Valentine
, and
Love and Other Four-Letter Words
. Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two young sons. Visit her online at www.carolynmackler.com.

MEGAN MCCAFFERTY
is the author of
Bumped
. She also wrote the
New York Times
bestselling Jessica Darling series, which includes the novels
Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings
, and
Perfect Fifths
. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and son. For more information, follow @meganmccafferty on Twitter, friend her on Facebook, or visit her online at www.meganmccafferty.com.

LISA MCMANN
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the Wake trilogy,
Cryer’s Cross
, and
Dead to You
, and the dystopian fantasy series The Unwanteds for younger readers. Before writing novels, Lisa worked as a blueberry picker, a bindery worker in a printing company, an independent bookseller, and a realtor. Lisa grew up in Michigan and lived there until 2004. Now she lives in the Phoenix area with her husband and two teenagers. Read more about Lisa at www.lisamcmann.com or find her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/McMannFan) or Twitter (@lisa_mcmann).

DAWN METCALF
, the author of
Luminous
, has no good excuse for the way she writes. She lived in a normal, loving, suburban home, studied hard, went to college, went to graduate school, got married, had babies, and settled down in northern Connecticut. Despite this wholesome lifestyle, she has been clearly corrupted by fairy tales, puppet visionaries, British humor, and graphic novels. As a result, she writes dark, quirky, and sometimes humorous speculative fiction. Visit her online at www.dawnmetcalf.com.

SAUNDRA MITCHELL
has been a phone psychic, a car salesperson, a denture delivery person, and a layout waxer. She’s dodged trains, endured basic training, and hitchhiked from Montana to California. She teaches herself languages, raises children, and makes paper for fun. She’s also a screenwriter for Fresh Films and the author of
Shadowed Summer
,
The Vespertine
, and
The Springsweet.
She always picks truth; dares are too easy. Visit her online at www.saundramitchell.com.

R. A. NELSON
is the author of the novels
Teach Me
,
Breathe My Name
,
Days of Little Texas
, and
Throat
. He was chosen as a
Horn Book
Newcomer, and his books have been recognized by the Parents’ Choice Awards, the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list, and Book Sense Kid Picks, and have been nominated to the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults list. Nelson lives with his family in northern Alabama and works at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Visit him online at www.ranelsonbooks.com.

ALYSON NOËL
is the number one
New York Times
bestselling author of the Immortals series (
Evermore
,
Blue Moon
,
Shadowland
,
Dark Flame
,
Night Star
, and the sixth and final book,
Everlasting
); the Immortals spin-off series beginning with
Radiance
;
Faking 19
; and
Art Geeks and Prom Queens
. She lives in Laguna Beach, California. Visit her online at www.alysonnoel.com.

LAUREN OLIVER
comes from a family of writers and has always been an avid reader. She graduated from the University of Chicago, attended the MFA program at New York University, and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code and breaking the printer. Her debut novel,
Before I Fall
, was a
New York Times
bestseller. She is also the author of
Delirium
and her debut novel for younger readers,
Liesl & Po
. Visit her online at www.laurenoliverbooks.com.

MICOL OSTOW
is half Puerto Rican, half Jewish, half reader, half writer, and, when under deadline, often half asleep. Micol was working as an editor of young adult fiction when she began to write her own books; since then, she has published more than 40 works for readers of all ages. She is the author of
Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa
, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, the graphic novel hybrid
So Punk Rock (And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother)
, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens, and the novel in verse
family,
loosely based on the Manson family murders of 1969. Visit her online at www.micolostow.com.

MARLENE PEREZ
is the author of the Dead Is series,
The Comeback
, and
Love in the Corner Pocket
. She lives in Orange County, California. Visit her online at www.marleneperez.com.

APRILYNNE PIKE
is the number one
New York Times
bestselling author of the Wings series, which includes
Wings
,
Spells
, and
Illusions
. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three kids. Visit her online at www.aprillynnepike.com.

AMY REED
was born and raised around Seattle, where she attended a total of eight schools by the time she was eighteen. After a brief stint at Reed College (no relation), she moved to San Francisco and spent the next several years serving coffee and getting into trouble. She eventually graduated from film school and is now the author of
Beautiful
and
Clean
. Visit her online at www.amyreedfiction.com.

DEBBIE RIGAUD
began her writing career covering news and entertainment for magazines, including
Seventeen, Twist
, and
CosmoGIRL!
. She’s interviewed celebs, politicians, and other social figures, but enjoyed interviewing “real girls” the most. A total Jersey girl at heart, Debbie lives in Bermuda with her husband. Catch her on bookshelves (
Perfect Shot
and
Hallway Diaries
) and online at www.debbierigaud.com.

CARRIE RYAN
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of several critically acclaimed novels set decades after the zombie apocalypse:
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
, which was named to the ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, and New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age lists;
The Dead-Tossed Waves
; and
The Dark and Hollow Places
. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Carrie is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now writes full time and lives with her husband (who is even more amazing than a cowboy) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Visit her online at www.carrieryan.com.

KURTIS SCALETTA
was born in Louisiana and grew up in New Mexico, North Dakota, England, Liberia, Brazil, and a few other places. His books for young readers include
Mudville
, which was an ALA
Booklist
“Top 10 Sports Books for Youth”;
Mamba Point
, which
Kirkus Reviews
, in a starred review, called an “expertly voiced narrative . . . tinted with magical realism that is by turns scary and very funny”; and
The Tanglewood Terror
. Kurtis now lives in Minneapolis with his wife, their son, and several cats. To learn more about him and his books, visit him online at www.kurtisscaletta.com.

MELISSA SCHORR
is the author of
Goy Crazy
, a romantic comedy about interfaith dating that was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and Northwestern University, Melissa was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. She currently works and lives as a journalist outside Boston with her two daughters, her husband, and their terrier, Bailey. Visit her online at www.melissaschorr.com.

LISA SCHROEDER
is a native Oregonian and lives there still with her husband and two sons. She is the author of three novels in verse for young adults:
I Heart You, You Haunt Me
;
Far from You
; and
Chasing Brooklyn
. Visit her online at www.lisaschroederbooks.com.

JON SCIESZKA
was born in Flint, Michigan, on September 8, 1954. He grew up with five brothers, has the same birthday as Peter Sellers and the Virgin Mary, and has a sneaking suspicion that the characters in his Dick and Jane reader were not of this world. Those plain facts, plus his elementary school principal dad, Louis; his registered nurse mom, Shirley;
Mad
magazine; four years of premed undergrad;
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
; an MFA in fiction from Columbia University; Robert Benchley; five years of painting apartments in New York City; his lovely wife, Jeri Hansen, who introduced him to Molly Leach and Lane Smith;
Green Eggs and Ham
; his teenage daughter, Casey, and almost teenage son, Jake; ten years of teaching a little bit of everything from first grade to eighth grade; and the last twenty years of living in Brooklyn . . . are just some of Jon’s answers to the questions “Where do you get your ideas?” and/or “How did you become a writer?” Visit him online at www.jsworldwide.com.

KIERAN SCOTT
is the author of the She’s So Dead to Us trilogy, the Non-Blonde Cheerleader trilogy, and
Geek Magnet
. In her spare time, Kieran writes the
New York Times
bestselling Private and Privilege series under the pseudonym Kate Brian, and has written several other novels under that name. Kieran has lived in New Jersey all her life (but looks nothing like Snooki), and graduated from Rutgers University with honors. Kieran loves to bake, read YA, watch football (Go Giants!), take Pilates classes, and ride her bike with her husband and son. Also, she’s kind of obsessed with TV. You can find out more online at www.kieranscott.net, or follow her on Twitter @kieranscott.

COURTNEY SHEINMEL
, author of
My So-Called Family
,
Positively
, and
Sincerely
, grew up in California and New York. She is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University and Fordham University School of Law. Visit her online at www.courtneysheinmel.com.

MELODYE SHORE
vowed in third grade that she would grow up to be the kind of teacher she wished she’d had. For much of her professional life, she did just that. As a teacher of English, reading, and other subjects, she worked primarily with underprepared and disadvantaged students. And as president of the National Association of Developmental Education (NADE), she helped make them visible to a broader audience across the United States and in other countries. Her current book project chronicles an itinerant childhood, in which Melodye and her family crisscrossed the country in a cramped sedan, holding revival meetings wherever they landed. While she still enjoys traveling, Melodye feels most at home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband. Visit her online at www.melodyeshore.com.