Karen Hesse

Karen Hesse (born August 29, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American author of children’s and young adult literature, known for works that frequently employ historical settings and, in some cases, free verse forms. She earned a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland, College Park, after earlier studies in theater at Towson State College (now Towson University). Before focusing on writing in the early 1990s, she worked in roles including teacher, librarian, typesetter, and proofreader.

Hesse’s first published book was Wish on a Unicorn (1991), and she has since written numerous acclaimed titles, among them Out of the Dust (1997), Letters from Rifka (1992), Phoenix Rising, The Music of Dolphins (1996), Stowaway (2000), Brooklyn Bridge, Sable, Lavender, and Witness (2001). She received the 1998 Newbery Medal for Out of the Dust, as well as the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction for the same novel, Christopher Awards for Letters from Rifka and Witness, and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002. She lives in Vermont with her husband.