Hi, I'm Janelle!

I write stories about family, identity, first love, and characters searching for where they belong.

I'm the author of the young adult novels Analee, in Real Life and The Victoria in My Head. My books have been featured in The New York Times Book Review and recognized by Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year.

Before becoming an author, I worked in publishing and spent nearly a decade as a teacher and librarian, where I discovered that helping young people find their voices is just as rewarding as writing my own stories. Today, I continue that work through Write the World, a global nonprofit for young writers.

I live in New Jersey with my husband, our two daughters, and our grumpy cat, Ripley. I'm currently at work on my first middle grade fantasy novel.