Lois Lowry: best known for The Giver (dystopian novel about a futuristic world in which differences and deep emotions have been eliminated) and Number the Stars (historical fiction about a Jewish family trying to escape from Copenhagen during World War II)
Louis Sachar: best known for Sideways Stories from Wayside School (a book series about a school built as a 30-story building, which is missing the 19 th floor) and Holes (a novel about a boy who is sent to a juvenile correction facility after he is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of shoes.
The story centers around the boy’s experiences at the camp, and the mysterious connection between his family and the camp itself)
Jerry Spinelli: best known for Maniac Magee (a novel about a orphaned boy who becomes a legend; major themes include homelessness and racism)
J.K. Rowling: best known for the Harry Potter book series
J. R. R. Tolkein: best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series
Neil Gaiman: best known for the graphic novel series Sandman, and novels Coraline, American
Gods, and Stardust. Known for highly inventive (and somewhat dark) fantasy.
Philip Pullman: Best known for His Dark Materials trilogy, which begins with The Golden
Compass. A blend of fantasy and science fiction with political and religious themes.
Laurie Halse Anderson: Best known for Speak. Commonly writes about the harsh realities of teenage life and controversial issues.
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (classic coming-of-age novel dealing with such issues as racism, poverty, and morality)
J.D Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye (deeply controversial novel about a rebellious teenage boy.
Major themes include alienation, angst, identity, and human connections)
Maya Angelou: best known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (known for her poetic style and issues concerning race and gender)
Orson Scott Card: best known for Ender’s Game (dark science fiction novel about war and its effects on children)
Robert Cormier: best known for I am the Cheese and The Chocolate War (both about teenage boys in difficult situations; notable themes include peer pressure, alienation, violence, and identity)

Gary Paulson: best known for Hatchet (most known for his novels about teenagers coming of age in the wilderness)
Art Spiegelman: best known for Maus (a graphic novel portraying the events of the Holocaust with Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats)
S. E. Hinton: best known for The Outsiders (often writes about teen violence, gangs, identity, and growing up)
Judy Blume: best known for Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, Superfudge, and Tales of a
Fourth-Grade Nothing (known for writing about the realities of adolescence)
Roald Dahl: best known for Witches, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory (known for inventive, surreal plotlines and very dry, dark humor)
Louisa May Alcott: best known for Little Women and Little Men (themes include family, growing up, feminism, and race)
Suzanne Collins: best known for The Hunger Games trilogy (dystopian novel about a future in which starving children are expected to fight to the death for the entertainment of wealthier citizens; themes include growing up, love, identity, war, socioeconomic class systems, and poverty)
Anna Sewell: best known for Black Beauty ( a classic morality tale told from the perspective of a horse and details the various acts of cruelty and kindness bestowed on him by the humans around him—is often thought to have played a major role in the animal rights movement)
Madeleine L’Engle: best known for A Wrinkle in Time (science fiction stories having to do with time travel, space travel, human love and connection, family, and religion)
Frances Hodgson Burnett: best known for A Little Princess and The Secret Garden (novels about life in early 1900s Britain; themes include growing up, poverty, class structures, friendship, and loyalty)
C. S. Lewis: best known for The Chronicles of Narnia book series (fantasy writer whose work often includes hints of reality, the importance of family and loyalty, and religion)
Lewis Caroll: best known for Alice in Wonderland (writing is characterized as being deeply surreal and inventive)
L. Frank Baum: best known for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and related Oz books (books are known for being allegorical in nature, and for being fantastical and inventive)

Charles Dickens: best known for Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol (young adult works often revolve around themes such as poverty, child abuse, greed, the importance of family and belonging, and personal strength)
Ray Bradbury: best known for Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man
(science fiction writer; the worlds in his novels often serve as social commentaries on our world)
L. M. Montgomery: best known for Anne of Green Gables (coming-of-age story about an orphan girl sent to live on a farm)
Sherman Alexie: best known for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Reservation
Blues (writes about growing up as a Native American on and off reservations)
John Knowles: best known for A Separate Peace (coming-of-age novel about growing up at a prep school during World War II)
Jack London: best known for The Call of the Wild and White Fang (novels about surviving in the wilderness and the rejection of civilization)
John Greene: best known for The Fault in our Stars (a sad and occasionally funny novel about two teens with terminal cancer)
Walter Dean Myers: best known for Monster, Lockdown, and Fallen Angels (writes primarily about race, poverty, and social justice)
Agatha Christie: Famous mystery novelist; best known for And Then There Were None and
Murder on the Orient Express
Douglas Adams: best known for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently’s Holistic
Detective Agency (funny, British science fiction)
Stephen King: Known by some literary critics as the “master of horror”; famous for IT, The
Shining, Carrie, Salem’s Lot, Misery, and many others.
Amy Tan: Best known for The Joy-Luck Club (writes primarily about mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese-American experience)
Mark Twain: Best known for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn; the most celebrated American author of all time, he used stories about life in the American South to explore ideas about race and politics