Author Profiles
Ohio has a rich literary heritage as well as some wonderful contemporary authors. Learn more about them here! You can sort by various categories and see who has participated in our annual book festival by using the category search on the left, or search by keyword (including partial author names) by using the search field on the right.
- You are searching within category(ies): Juvenile
Trudy Krisher
Trudy Krisher is an award-winning author of young adult novels, children’s picture books, and a scholarly biography. Her recent biography, Fanny Seward: A Life, won a Silver Medal from the Independent Publishers Association. Awards for her historical novels for young adults include the International Reading Association Award, a Jefferson Cup Honor Award, the American Library Association Best Books award, and many others. She has spoken at many local, regional, and national forums including the American Library Association, The National Conference of Teachers of English, and the New York Public Library. She is a retired professor from the Department of Liberal Arts, Communication, and Social Sciences at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. She currently hosts a public access television show in Dayton, Ohio called “The Writer’s Nook.” She has been featured as part of the Dayton region’s PBS-TV initiative “The Great American Read.” You can learn more about her at http://www.trudykrisherauthor.com.
Education: B.A., College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
M.Ed., College of New Jersey, Trenton, New Jersey
Selected Publications:
Bark Park. Children’s Picture Book. Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books, 2019.
Fanny Seward: A Life. Biography. Syracuse University Press. 2015.
“An Affectionate Farewell”: The Story of Old Bob and Old Abe. Children’s picture book. Bunker Hill Publishing. 2015.
Fallout: A Novel. Young Adult Novel. New York: Holiday House. 2006.
Uncommon Faith: A Novel. Young Adult Novel. New York: Holiday House. 2003.
“We Loved Lucy.” Short Story solicited for Time Capsule: Short Stories about Teenagers throughout the Twentieth Century, edited by Don Gallo, New York, Delacorte Press, 1999. Laurel Leaf paperback released through Bantam Doubleday Dell, New York, 2001.
Kinship: A Novel. Young Adult Novel. Random House. 1997. Laurel Leaf paperback released through Bantam Doubleday Dell, New York, 1999. Audio recording from Recorded Books, 2001.
Writing for a Reader: Peers, Process, and Progress in the Writing Classroom. College Writing Textbook. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 1994.
Spite Fences: A Novel. Young Adult Novel. New York: Delacorte. 1994. Norwegian rights acquired by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1997. Laurel Leaf paperback released through Bantam Doubleday Dell, New York, 1996. Audio recording from Recorded Books, 2000.
Kathy’s Hats: A Story of Hope. Children’s Picture Book. Chicago: Albert Whitman & Company, 1992. Japanese rights acquired by Hyoronsha, Tokyo, Japan, 1997.
The Writer’s Image: Literary Photographs by Jill Krementz. Introduction by Kurt Vonnegut. Preface by Trudy Krisher. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.
Julia Kuo
Julia Kuo is the author and illustrator of Let’s Do Everything and Nothing and Luminous: Living Things that Light Up the Night. She is the illustrator of many picture and specialty books including the bestselling book RISE. Julia has created editorial illustrations for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. She has taught at Columbia College Chicago and at her alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Learn more at: https://www.juliakuo.com/.
Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton
Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton’s first published work was a note passed to a boy in third grade. You would have thought this most embarrassing moment would have ended her writing career. But instead, Laurie has gone on to write 45 books and is the author/illustrator of two. Laurie has been published in the trade, educational, craft, and Christian markets. WHY COWBOYS SLEEP WITH THEIR BOOTS ON is her bestselling picture book. It won the Premier Print Award given by Eastman Kodak and has sold over 45,000 copies since publication. Laurie wrote and illustrated GOD BE IN MY HEART in 1999, and RED, WHITE, AND BLUE in 2002. The Huebner Museum of Children’s Picture Book Art, housed in the Toledo Public Library, honored Laurie by purchasing and exhibiting a piece of art from RED, WHITE, AND BLUE. Martha Stewart’s Radio Station highlighted RED WHITE AND BLUE, and The Children’s Book Council invited Laurie to write about America’s freedoms as related to the book for their premier online magazine. The Children’s Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education selected A YOUNG MAN’S DANCE as among the best Children’s Books of the year in 2007. Laurie is an international speaker, addressing students, educators, and writers throughout the United States and Mexico. You can reach her at lauriepknowlton@aim.com.
Elisa Stone Leahy
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. She likes writing about characters with complicated identities. She is the author of Mallory in Full Color and Tethered to Other Stars, which Kirkus Reviews called “beautifully executed.” You can find Elisa online at elisastoneleahy.com
Florenza Lee
Florenza Lee is an author, publisher, mindset coach, transformational speaker, radio talk show host, Master Storyteller, wife, and mother. Her Children’s books focus on Social-Emotional Learning and Emotional Intelligence. The tagline for her publishing company is, “…feeding your mind one book at a time” and her books fulfills the mission. Her dynamic characters immediately capture the readers’ attention, and the lessons remain long after the book is closed. Florenza is a proud member of SCBWI, AALBC, IBPA, REACH, Inc., and an Alum of Ashford University; she attends Grand Canyon University. Several of her titles are translated for Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, and Mandarin. Coming soon are German, French, and Italian. She and her husband, CSM (Ret US Army) Trefus Lee, have been married for nearly 39 years and reside in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Their daughters, Jessica and Missy, call Las Vegas, Nevada, and Chagrin Falls, Ohio, home. Learn more at her website: https://florenza.org/
Cathy Cultice Lentes
Cathy Cultice Lentes recently retired from teaching and working with students with disabilitie sas part of the Special Education/Psychology team in Meigs County, Ohio. In 2016, she published a poetry chapbook, Getting The Mail (Finishing Line Press). In addition to poetry, Lentes writes creative nonfiction and a variety of works for children. She earned her MFA in Writing for Young People from the Solstice Program in 2013. Wendy McVicker and Cathy Cultice Lentes admired each other’s work from afar before becoming good friends and have often published in the same literary journals and anthologies, most recently, I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing, Ohio’s Appalachian voices (Sheila-Na-GigEditions, 2022).
Susan Sachs Levine
Susan Levine grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and started her career in marketing with Procter & Gamble. She then moved to Columbus where she became VP of Marketing and Environmental Affairs with SIG, an international packaging company. A wildlife enthusiast, Susan has traveled extensively to learn about endangered species. After the birth of her two children, Susan focused her energy on being a Scout leader, volunteering at a special needs pre-school, and serving as enrichment specialist at her children’s schools .…
Read MoreSusan Levine grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and started her career in marketing with Procter & Gamble. She then moved to Columbus where she became VP of Marketing and Environmental Affairs with SIG, an international packaging company. A wildlife enthusiast, Susan has traveled extensively to learn about endangered species. After the birth of her two children, Susan focused her energy on being a Scout leader, volunteering at a special needs pre-school, and serving as enrichment specialist at her children’s schools . It was in this role that she identified the need for picture books about major Ohio cities. Her first book, Packard Takes Flight: A Bird’s-Eye View of Columbus, Ohio has become a standard in 4th grade classrooms that study Ohio. Her most recent book, Harriett’s Homecoming: A High- Flying Tour of Cincinnati, Ohio highlights all that is special about the Queen City. In both titles, Susan blends her interest in wildlife with her knowledge of Ohio to create books that entertain and teach young children, while being a great resource for teachers and parents.
Leigh Lewis
Leigh Lewis is a children’s writer and poet who has been “playing pirates” since she could walk. She does her best work in loud cafes, on long journeys, or in bed, late at night while everyone else sleeps. Her adventures on the high seas have enabled her to call many places home, including Turkey, Greece, Japan, England and Russia, as well as states all over the U.S., and she eventually navigated her way back to her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Leigh spends her time there dreaming up stories for kids of all ages, buoyed by an amazing crew—her Turkish delight of a husband and their three swashbuckling daughters.