The short version:

The long version:

Holly Black is the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children. She grew up in New Jersey and loved reading and writing from an early age. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published in 2002. Tithe was called “dark, edgy, beautifully written and compulsively readable” by Booklist and was included in the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults. Holly has since written two other books in the same universe, Valiant (2005), and the sequel to Tithe, Ironside (2007), which spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Holly collaborated with her long-time friend, Caldecott award winning artist, Tony DiTerlizzi, to create the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles. The first two books, The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone were released together in 2003, with the next three, Lucinda’s Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004) and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004), following in rapid succession. The Wrath of Mulgarath climbed to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The five-book serial has been called “vintage Victorian fantasy” by the New York Post and Time Magazine reported that “the books wallow in their dusty Olde Worlde charm.” The lavishly illustrated Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to The Fantastical World Around You (2005), The Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005), and Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006) expanded the Spiderwick universe. To date, the books have been translated into 32 languages. There are three more chapter books in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series,The Nixie’s Song (2007), A Giant Problem (2008) and The Wyrm King (2009). The Spiderwick Chronicles were adapted into a film by Paramount Pictures in conjunction with Nickelodeon Films. Released in February 2008, the film stars Freddie Highmore and Sarah Bolger, with Mark Waters as the director.

Holly has also been a frequent contributor to anthologies, and has co-edited three of them: Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci, 2009), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with Justine Larbalestier, 2010), and Welcome to Bordertown (with Ellen Kushner, 2011). Her first collection of short fiction, Poison Eaters and Other Stories, came out in 2010 from Small Beer Press. She wrote an Eisner-nominated graphic novel series, The Good Neighbors, and in 2012 completed The Curse Workers series, a trilogy set in a world of capers, curse magic, and organized crime.

2013 saw the release of two stand-alone novels. Doll Bones, a Newbery honor recipient and Mythopoeic award winner which marked a return to middle grade fiction, tells the story of three friends who go on a road trip to bury a haunted doll. In the words of BCCB, “This novel is a chilling ghost story, a gripping adventure, and a heartwarming look at the often-painful pull of adulthood.”  The Coldest Girl in Coldtown follows Tana, who lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. “You may be ready to put a stake in vampire lit, but read this first: It’s dark and dangerous, bloody and brilliant,” said Kirkus Reviews. It was a finalist for the Norton and the Locus awards.

Holly’s newest young adult book is The Darkest Part of the Forest, a stand-alone novel that is a return to faerie fiction. She is also collaborating on a middle grade fantasy series, Magisterium, with friend and fellow author Cassandra Clare. The first book in the series, The Iron Trial, will be out in September of 2014.

Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband Theo, and son Sebastian, in a house with a secret library.