Jennifer L. Holm


Jennifer L. Holm is an American children's writer, and recipient of three Newbery Honors and the Eisner Award.

Biography

Holm was born in 1968 in San Diego, California. She spent her early life living on Whidbey Island on the Puget Sound in Washington state, before her family relocated to Audubon, Pennsylvania, with her four brothers. She attended Methacton High School for four years.
After graduating from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, she worked in television and later began to write. Our Only May Amelia, the story of a 12-year-old girl living in late-19th century in coastal southwestern Washington state, inspired by a diary written by her great-aunt, became her first published novel and was a 2000 Newbery Honor Book. Holm also has written a series featuring Jane Peck, a young woman living in the 1850s ; The Creek, a horror thriller; Babymouse and Squish, series of graphic novels for children illustrated by her brother Matthew; and The Stink Files, a series co-written with her husband Jonathan Hamel featuring James Edward Bristlefur, a cat raised by a British secret agent who is adopted by an American family and renamed Mr. Stink after his owner is murdered.
Penny from Heaven, a story set in the 1950s featuring an 11-year-old Italian-American girl, was a 2007 Newbery Honor recipient. Turtle in Paradise, which is set in the Great Depression in Key West, Florida, was a 2011 Newbery Honor recipient. Babymouse for President won the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers.
Our Only May Amelia has been adapted for the stage by John Olive. The River Theater in Astoria, Oregon, performed it for its 2006 summer run, in conjunction with FinnFest USA '06. The events of the play were set just north of Astoria in Naselle, Washington.

Personal life

As of 2013, Holm lives in Foster City, California, with her husband and two children.

Works

Standalone novels

  • The Creek
  • Penny from Heaven - Newbery Honor
  • The Lion of Mars

  • ''The Fourteenth Goldfish'' series

  • The Fourteenth Goldfish
  • ''The Third Mushroom''

    Sunny series

Graphic novels, illustrated by Matthew Holm and colored by Lark Pien
  • Sunny Side Up
  • Swing it, Sunny
  • Sunny Rolls the Dice
  • Sunny Makes a Splash
  • ''Sunny Makes Her Case''

    May Amelia series

  • Our Only May Amelia - Newbery Honor
  • The Trouble with May Amelia, illustrated by Adam Gustavson
Our Only May Amelia can be found in the Newbery Great Girls Boxed Set along with three other Newbery Winners.

''[Boston Jane]'' novel series

  1. Boston Jane: An Adventure
  2. Wilderness Days
  3. ''The Claim''

    Key West series

  • Turtle in Paradise - Newbery Honor
  • Full of Beans - a prequel from the perspective of Turtle's cousin, Beans.

    Ginny Davis series

Illustrated by Elicia Castaldi
  1. Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff
  2. ''Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick: Ginny Davis's Year In Stuff''

    ''The Stink Files'' series

In collaboration with Jonathan Hamel, illustrated by Brad Weinman
Graphic novels, in collaboration with Matthew Holm
  1. Queen of the World!
  2. Our Hero
  3. Beach Babe
  4. Rock Star
  5. Heartbreaker
  6. Camp Babymouse
  7. Skater Girl
  8. Puppy Love
  9. Monster Mash
  10. Babymouse: The Musical
  11. Dragonslayer
  12. Babymouse Burns Rubber
  13. Cupcake Tycoon
  14. Mad Scientist
  15. A Very Babymouse Christmas
  16. Babymouse for President
  17. Extreme Babymouse
  18. Happy Birthday, Babymouse
  19. Bad Babysitter
  20. Babymouse Goes for the Gold
Compilations:
  • Babymouse Collection Books 1-13

    ''Babymouse Tales From the Locker'' series

Illustrated by Matthew Holm
  1. Lights, Camera, Middle School!,
  2. Miss Communication,
  3. School-Tripped,

    ''Little Babymouse''

Picture book, illustrated by Matthew Holm
  • Little Babymouse and the Christmas Cupcakes,

    ''Squish'' series

Graphic novels, in collaboration with Matthew Holm
  1. Squish: Super Ameoba
  2. Squish: Brave New Pond
  3. Squish: The Power Of The Parasite
  4. Squish: Captain Disaster
  5. Squish: Game On!
  6. Squish: Fear the Amoeba
  7. Squish: Deadly Disease of Doom
  8. ''Squish: Pod vs. Pod''

    ''My First Comics''

Illustrated by Matthew Holm