Helene Dunbar
Called the "queen of heartbreaking prose" by Paste Magazine, Helene Dunbar is the author of WE ARE LOST AND FOUND (Sourcebooks, September 2019), PRELUDE FOR LOST SOULS (August, 2020), and THE PROMISE OF LOST THINGS (2022), as well as BOOMERANG, THESE GENTLE WOUNDS, and WHAT REMAINS. Over the years, she's worked as a drama critic, journalist, and marketing manager, and has written on topics as diverse as traditional Irish music, court cases, and theater. She lives in Nashville with her husband and daughter.
If you like author Helene Dunbar here is the list of authors you may also like
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Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 16 August 1954) is an award-winning American poet, novelist and writer of children's books.
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He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy in 1977. He studied Theology at the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium from 1977 to 1981. He was a priest for a few years in El Paso, Texas before leaving the order.
In 1985, he returned to school, and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned an M.A. degree in Creative Writing -
S.E. Hinton
S.E. Hinton, was and still is, one of the most popular and best known writers of young adult fiction. Her books have been taught in some schools, and banned from others. Her novels changed the way people look at young adult literature.
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Susan Eloise Hinton was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has always enjoyed reading but wasn't satisfied with the literature that was being written for young adults, which influenced her to write novels like The Outsiders. That book, her first novel, was published in 1967 by Viking. -
Zack Smedley
Zack Smedley was born and raised in southern Maryland, in an endearing county almost no one has heard of. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from UMBC and currently works within the field. As a member of the LGBT community, his goal is to give a voice to marginalized young adults through gritty, morally complex narratives. He spends his free time building furniture, baking, tinkering with electronics, and managing his obsession with the works of Aaron Sorkin. DEPOSING NATHAN is his first novel.
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Robin Roe
Robin Roe is the author of A LIST OF CAGES, named one of the Best YA Books of the Year by Buzzfeed, EpicReads, Goodreads & more.
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Her new novel DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE is out now!
Praise for DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE
• “Intense and visceral… an unforgettable story about trauma, resilience, and hope.” — Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
• “Haunting, beautiful, and impossible to put down, Dark Room Etiquette is nothing short of a masterpiece.” — Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be
• “Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!” — Andrew Smith, author of the Printz Honor Book Grasshopper Jungle
• “I burned through the pages of Dark Room Etiquette—riveted, transfixed, and deeply moved by Sayers’ j -
J.M. Lee
J.M. spent his formative years searching for talking animals and believing he could control the weather. After pursuing nerdy interests in comparative film studies, screenwriting, and Shakespeare, he graduated with a much nerdier degree in linguistics.
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In addition to writing novels, he enjoys teaching his dog new vocabulary words and updating his snooty coffee blog.
The Dark Crystal Author Quest
In 2013, the Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap launched the Dark Crystal Author Quest. The winner would be awarded a publishing contract to write the first official prequel novel to Jim Henson’s beloved fantasy classic The Dark Crystal (1982). After winning the contest and completing the first novel, Shadows of the Dark Crystal, Joe signed on for -
Elaine Marie Alphin
I was born on 30 October 1955 in San Francisco, California, and attended Lafayette Elementary School in San Francisco. Then my family moved to New York City, where I attended William H. Carr Junior High School. This is a school picture of me from my junior high school days. After that we moved to Houston, and I went to Westchester High School and on to Rice University.
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Nancy Werlin
Nancy Werlin writes young adult fiction: New York Times–bestselling fantasy, Edgar-award winning suspense, and National Book Award-honored realistic novels.
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Nancy's newest book is the comedy ZOE ROSENTHAL IS NOT LAWFUL GOOD. -
Catherine Atkins
I am a writer and teacher from Northern California. My books include The File on Angelyn Stark(Knopf), Alt Ed(Putnam) and When Jeff Comes Home(Putnam).
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Nancy Werlin
Nancy Werlin writes young adult fiction: New York Times–bestselling fantasy, Edgar-award winning suspense, and National Book Award-honored realistic novels.
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Nancy's newest book is the comedy ZOE ROSENTHAL IS NOT LAWFUL GOOD. -
Cassandra Clare
Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.
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Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).
After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York w -
Suzanne Young
Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program, The Treatment, and several other novels. She currently lives in Tempe, Arizona where she teaches high school English and obsesses about books. Learn more about Suzanne at www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com
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Lisa Graff
Lisa Graff is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of the National Book Award nominee A Tangle of Knots, as well as Lost in the Sun, Absolutely Almost, Double Dog Dare, Umbrella Summer, The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower, The Thing About Georgie and Sophie Simon Solves Them All. Originally from California, she lived for many years in New York City and now makes her home just outside of Philadelphia.
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Tabitha Suzuma
Add me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tabitha.suzuma
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Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabithaSuzuma
Tabitha Suzuma was born in London, the eldest of five children. She attended a French school in the UK and grew up bilingual. However, she hated school and would sit at the back of the class and write stories, which she got away with because her teachers thought she was taking notes. Aged fourteen, Tabitha left school against her parents' wishes. She continued her education through distance learning and went on to study French Literature at King's College London.
After graduating, Tabitha trained as a primary school teacher and whilst teaching full-time, wrote her first novel.
A NOTE OF MADNESS tells the story of seventeen-year-old -
Bill Konigsberg
Bill Konigsberg was born in 1970 in New York City. Expectations were high from birth - at least in terms of athletics. His parents figured he'd be a great soccer player, based on his spirited kicking from inside the womb. As it turned out, the highlight of his soccer career was at Camp Greylock in 1978, when he was chosen for the Camp's "D" team. There were only four levels. Bill played alongside the likes of the kid who always showered alone, the chronic nosebleeder and the guy with recurrent poison ivy.
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Early in his life, Bill decided he wanted to be a disc jockey, a professional baseball player, or the Construction Worker from The Village People. None of these career paths worked out for him. Yet. He still holds out hope for a Village Peo -
Swati Avasthi
Swati Avasthi has a BA from the University of Chicago and an MFA from the University of Minnesota. She has received numerous awards and grant, most recently from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her first novel, Split, has received a silver parents' choice award and a CYBILS award and was named a best books for young adults, 2011 from YALSA. Split was also nominated for a GoodReads Choice Award and a Minnesota Book Award. She is keeping her fingers crossed.
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Nina LaCour
Nina LaCour is the Michael L. Printz Award-winning and nationally bestselling author of six young adult novels, including Watch Over Me and We Are Okay; the children's book Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle; and Yerba Buena, a novel for adults. She's on faculty at Hamline University's MFA in writing for Children and Young Adults program, and teaches an online class of her own called The Slow Novel Lab. A former indie bookseller and high school English teacher, she lives with her family in San Francisco.
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Brigid Kemmerer
Brigid Kemmerer is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of dark and alluring romantic fantasy novels like Warrior Princess Assassin, Defy the Night, and A Curse So Dark and Lonely. A full time writer, Brigid lives in the Baltimore area with her family. When she’s not writing or being a mom, you can usually find her playing board games with her loving husband, or hanging out in the gym, with her hands wrapped around a barbell.
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Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 16 August 1954) is an award-winning American poet, novelist and writer of children's books.
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He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy in 1977. He studied Theology at the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium from 1977 to 1981. He was a priest for a few years in El Paso, Texas before leaving the order.
In 1985, he returned to school, and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned an M.A. degree in Creative Writing -
Darcy Coates
Darcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.
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She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates -
Robin Roe
Robin Roe is the author of A LIST OF CAGES, named one of the Best YA Books of the Year by Buzzfeed, EpicReads, Goodreads & more.
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Her new novel DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE is out now!
Praise for DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE
• “Intense and visceral… an unforgettable story about trauma, resilience, and hope.” — Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
• “Haunting, beautiful, and impossible to put down, Dark Room Etiquette is nothing short of a masterpiece.” — Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be
• “Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!” — Andrew Smith, author of the Printz Honor Book Grasshopper Jungle
• “I burned through the pages of Dark Room Etiquette—riveted, transfixed, and deeply moved by Sayers’ j -
Julia Walton
Julia Walton received her MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. When she's not reading or baking cookies, she's indulging in her profound love of Swedish Fish, mechanical pencils, and hobbit-sized breakfasts. Julia lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband and daughter.
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Angelo Surmelis
Angelo Surmelis was raised in Greece until he immigrated to Illinois at the age of five. He currently lives in Los Angeles. An award-winning designer, Surmelis has been featured on over fifty television shows, including the Today show and Extra, as well as in magazines such as InStyle, TV Guide, and Entertainment Weekly. He has worked as a host on networks like HGTV and TLC. He can be found online at www.angelohome.com.
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Adib Khorram
ADIB KHORRAM is the author of DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY, which earned the William C. Morris Debut Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature, and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor, as well as a multitude of other honors and accolades. His followup, DARIUS THE GREAT DESERVES BETTER, received three starred reviews, was an Indie Bestseller, and received a Stonewall Honor. His debut picture book, SEVEN SPECIAL SOMETHINGS: A NOWRUZ STORY was released in 2021. When he isn’t writing, you can find him learning to do a Lutz jump, practicing his handstands, or steeping a cup of oolong. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where people don’t usually talk about themselves in the third person. You can find him on Twitter (@adibkhor
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Laura Pohl
Laura Pohl is the New York Times best-selling author of The Grimrose Girls. Her debut novel, The Last 8, won the International Latino Book Awards. She likes writing messages in caps lock, never using autocorrect, and obsessing about Star Wars. When not taking pictures of her dog, she can be found curled up with a fantasy or science-fiction book or replaying Dragon Age. Her favorite Disney princess is Cinderella, and her favorite Disney prince is Kylo Ren. A Brazilian at heart and soul, she makes her home in São Paulo.
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She is represented by Kari Sutherland at Bradford Literary. -
C.G. Drews
CG Drews is the award-winning author of The Boy Who Steals Houses and NYT Bestseller Don’t Let The Forest In, which is also a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, Indie Next Pick, and Barnes & Noble YA Book Club Pick. Their next YA horror, Hazelthorn, is out October 28th, 2025, with debut adult horror, You Did Nothing Wrong, coming in 2026. Their work has been translated into six languages, received a nomination for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal, and won the 2020 CBCA Honour Award. CG lives in Australia, never sleeps, and is forever buried under a pile of unread books. Find on Instagram as @paperfury, TikTok as @cgdrews, and at cgdrews.com.
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Kosoko Jackson
Born and raised in the DC Metro Area, Kosoko Jackson has worked in non-profit communications for the past four years. His debut, YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, comes out 2021 by SourcebooksFire.
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Zack Smedley
Zack Smedley was born and raised in southern Maryland, in an endearing county almost no one has heard of. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from UMBC and currently works within the field. As a member of the LGBT community, his goal is to give a voice to marginalized young adults through gritty, morally complex narratives. He spends his free time building furniture, baking, tinkering with electronics, and managing his obsession with the works of Aaron Sorkin. DEPOSING NATHAN is his first novel.
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Susan Vaught
Website: http://susanvaught.com
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astrology sign: Libra
favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)
favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.
names of my schools:
Vanderbilt University (MS, Ph.D.)
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (BA)
Germantown High School (Germantown, TN 9th-12th)
Germantown Middle School (Germantown, TN 8th)
Can't Remember, but the mascot was a purple dragon (Sandy Springs/Atlanta Georgia, 7th)
Green Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 6th) Frances Patterson was a very cool teacher there. I write because of her.
Pierce Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 3rd-5th)
Can't Reme -
Jennifer Mathieu
I'm a high school English teacher and writer. My novels for young people include MOXIE, THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE, DOWN CAME THE RAIN, and more.
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My fourth novel MOXIE is a film on Netflix, directed by Amy Poehler. :-)
All my YA novels are published by Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan.
In July 2024, I'll be introducing my first novel for adults, THE FACULTY LOUNGE. It's being published by Dutton and follows a sweeping cast of characters who all work at a big public high school in Texas.
I live in Texas with my husband, son, dog, and cat.
When it comes to what I read, I love anything that hooks me on the first page. I adore thoughtful memoirs and creative nonfiction about arts and culture. When it comes to fiction, my favorite contemporary writers are -
S.F. Henson
S.F. Henson is the critically acclaimed author of Devils Within, a 2018 William C. Morris Award finalist, Alabama Library Association 2019 Young Adult Award winner, Kirkus Best Book of 2017, and YALSA 2018 Best Fiction for Young Adults. Born and raised in the deep south, SF graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Animal Science, which she put to great use by attending law school. Her law degree has gotten some mileage, though, giving her the experience to write about criminals and other dark, nefarious subjects. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, her dog, and her oddly named cat.
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Swati Avasthi
Swati Avasthi has a BA from the University of Chicago and an MFA from the University of Minnesota. She has received numerous awards and grant, most recently from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her first novel, Split, has received a silver parents' choice award and a CYBILS award and was named a best books for young adults, 2011 from YALSA. Split was also nominated for a GoodReads Choice Award and a Minnesota Book Award. She is keeping her fingers crossed.
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Tabitha Suzuma
Add me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tabitha.suzuma
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Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabithaSuzuma
Tabitha Suzuma was born in London, the eldest of five children. She attended a French school in the UK and grew up bilingual. However, she hated school and would sit at the back of the class and write stories, which she got away with because her teachers thought she was taking notes. Aged fourteen, Tabitha left school against her parents' wishes. She continued her education through distance learning and went on to study French Literature at King's College London.
After graduating, Tabitha trained as a primary school teacher and whilst teaching full-time, wrote her first novel.
A NOTE OF MADNESS tells the story of seventeen-year-old -
Jaye Murray
First-time novelist Jaye Murray is a social worker who lives in New Rochelle, New York.
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Matt Blackstone
For as long as I can remember, I liked writing stories. In elementary school, they were about tooth fairies and snap bracelets and wrestling buddies, and about how I loved to steal rocks from the neighbor’s front yard and bash them with a hammer to see the crystals inside, which I thought were real crystals and worth bajillions of dollars, so I couldn’t wait to sell them and buy a baseball stadium and a pool and, because I’d be a wise, responsible bijillionaire, I’d invest in baseball cards. Ken Griffey Jr. baseball cards.
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Well, most of Ken Griffey Jr.'s cards are worth a few bucks. And those rocks, the ones I stole, the ones with the crystals inside . . . they’re just rocks. So I’m sorta glad those stories didn’t come true, because it would