Katherine Applegate

K. A. Applegate
K. A. Applegate at the 2013 Texas Book Festival.
Born	Katherine Alice Applegate (1956-10-09) October 9, 1956 (age 60) Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Pen name	L. E. Blair; Katherine Kendall; Beth Kincaid; A. R. Plumb; Pat Pollari
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	American
Period	1991–2003, 2007-present
Genre	Children's fantasy, science fiction, adventure novels
Notable works	The One and Only Ivan, Animorphs
Notable awards	Newbery Medal 2013
Spouse	Michael Grant
Children	2

Katherine Alice Applegate (born October 9, 1956 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the Animorphs, Remnants, Everworld, and other book series. She won the 2013 Newbery Medal for her 2012 children's novel The One and Only Ivan. Applegate's most popular books are science fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels. She won the Best New Children's Book Series Award in 1997 in Publishers Weekly. Her book Home of the Brave has won two awards. She also wrote a chapter book series in 2008-9 called Roscoe Riley Rules.

Applegate was born in Michigan. Since then she has lived in Texas, Florida, California, Minnesota, Illinois, North Carolina, and after living in Pelago, Italy for a year, she moved back to Irvine, in Southern California. In 2003, she and her husband, Michael Grant, her co-author on many projects including Animorphs and Everworld, adopted their daughter, Julia, in China, and later, son Robert from Mozambique. Following the end of Remnants, Applegate took three years off. She is back at work and has written a picture book called Buffalo Storm, a middle reader novel called Home of the Brave and an early chapters series Roscoe Riley Rules with HarperCollins. Her book Home of the Brave has won the SCBWI 2008 Golden Kite Award for Best Fiction, the Bank Street 2008 Josette Frank Award, and is a Judy Lopez Memorial Award honor book.

Applegate won the 2013 Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan, illustrated by Patricia Castelao and published by HarperCollins. This annual award, granted by the American Library Association, recognizes the previous year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." The story is written from the viewpoint of a gorilla living in a glass cage in a shopping mall. According to the award committee, "Katherine Applegate gives readers a unique and unforgettable gorilla's-eye-view of the world that challenges the way we look at animals and at ourselves."