Biography

Elana K. Arnold is a National Book Award finalist and Michael L. Printz Award honoree whose catalog of books for kids and teens—which includes picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, and YA fiction—has garnered dozens of starred reviews, state list citations, and other accolades. Her long list of titles has sold over three quarters of a million copies, and she’s a fixture at conferences and schools across the country. Her work has been called both “devastatingly vital” and “comfortably familiar and quietly groundbreaking.”

Elana holds a BA in comparative literature from the University of California at Irvine and a Master’s degree in English and creative writing/fiction from UC Davis, where she has taught creative writing and adolescent literature.

In addition to her work as a writer, Elana is a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program. She lives with her family and menagerie of pets in Long Beach, California.