Biography

Shannon’s mother says she was a storyteller from birth, jabbering endlessly in nonsensical baby-talk. Once she could speak, she made up stories and bribed younger siblings to perform them in mini-plays until, thankfully, an elementary school teacher introduced her to the wonder of written fiction.

Shannon began to write books at age ten and continued to write while pursuing her studies and acting in television, stage, and improv comedy. She eventually earned an MFA in Creative Writing and worked on her books at nights and on lunch breaks from her day job, racking up many rejections before publishing her first book in 2003.

Shannon has now published over thirty books for early, middle grade, young adult, and adult audiences in many genres and mediums. Her first novel, The Goose Girl, was an ALA Teens’ Top Ten and Josette Frank Award winner. Princess Academy won a prestigious Newbery Honor award and was followed by bestsellers Palace of Stone and The Forgotten Sisters.

Along with bestie-illustrator LeUyen Pham, Shannon has created several iconic children’s book series. Along with Dean Hale, Shannon and Uyen created the middle grade series, Princess in Black. Then Shannon and Uyen created the groundbreaking graphic memoirs Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever. Most recently, Shannon and Uyen have written and illustrated the Itty-Bitty-Kitty-Corn picture book series.

In addition to her own creations, Shannon has written a number of books about characters created by others, such as five books in Mattel’s Ever After High series; a book in Scholastic’s Spirit Animals series; with her husband Dean, two books about Marvel’s Squirrel Girl, and a graphic novel about young Wonder Woman, Diana: Princess of the Amazons.

Shannon and Dean make their home near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, with their four remarkable children and their two cats, Misty Knight and Mike Hat.