Joan Bauer

Joan Bauer is a New York Times best-selling author, screenwriter, songwriter, and speaker who has won numerous awards for her novels. Those prizes include: the Newbery Honor Medal, the American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award, three Christopher Awards, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Chicago Tribune Young Adult Literary Prize, the Golden Kite Award of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the St. Katherine Drexel Award of the Catholic Library Association, the New England Booksellers Award; and the Boston Public Library’s “Literary Light” Award.

Joan has twice participated in the US State Department’s Professional Speakers Program, traveling to both Croatia and Kazakhstan. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America East, the Authors Guild, and PEN. She also publishes on Substack: https://substack.com/@joanbauerhere. Her novels for young people have been featured extensively on state award lists, in addition to appearing on ALA Notable Books, American Bookseller Pick of the List, School Library Journal Best Books, and Smithsonian Notable Children’s Books.

She lives just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Evan and their dog Cleo. She enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing the guitar.