Ann M. Martin was born August 12, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey. Growing up, she never kept a regular diary or journal, but she loved to read and write. She especially enjoyed classics like The Secret Garden and The Wizard of Oz, as well as books by contemporary writers like Roald Dahl and Astrid Lingren, author of the Pippi Longstocking series.

Ann is a morning person. As a child, she usually got up before her parents, and now her day starts between 5 and 5:30 a.m.! When she wasn’t reading or writing, Ann played in her backyard tree house with the other kids in her neighborhood, or pursued arts and crafts projects, especially sewing. She often made her own Halloween costumes, and these days, she bestows her clothes-making talents on her nephew and godchildren.

Ann graduated from Smith College in 1977 and wrote her first book, Bummer Summer, about a girl adjusting to her father’s new wife, in 1980. Soon after, Scholastic’s editor-in-chief suggested that she write four books about a group of girls who form a baby-sitter’s club, and now The Baby-sitters Club series has sold over 150 million copies.

Ann has collaborated with some of the best authors and illustrators in children’s literature. Her first published picture book, Leo the Magnificent, was illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. She wrote two books with her good friend Paula Danziger, P.S. Longer Letter Later and Snail Mail No More. The two books she’s written with Laura Godwin, The Doll People and The Meanest Doll in the World, were illustrated by their friend Brian Selznick.

Ann’s novel Belle Teal was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. A Corner of the Universe, her next novel, was a Newbery Honor Book, followed by Here Today. Her latest novel is A Dog’s Life.

Currently, Ann lives in upstate New York with three cats, Gussie, Woody, and Willie, and her first dog, a golden retriever-beagle mix named Sadie.