Ellen Wittlinger was born October 21, 1948 in Belleville, Illinois. She graduated from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop graduate program. Her first book was poetry: Breakers, 1979, Sheep Meadow Press. She also wrote plays for some years and then began to write fiction for young adults. Her novels have won numerous state awards, a Michael L. Printz Honor Award from the American Library Association, a Lambda Literary Award, and have been listed as Best Books of the Year by the ALA, New York Public Library, the International Reading Association, School Library Journal, Booklist and Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. She currently lives in western Massachusetts.