Patricia Reilly Giff, author and teacher, was born on April 26 in Brooklyn, New York. Giff now resides in Weston, Connecticut.
She was educated at Marymount College, where she was awarded a B.A. degree, St. John's University , where she earned an M.A. and Hofstra University, where she was awarded a Professional Diploma in Reading and a Doctorate of Humane Letters.
After spending some twenty years as a full time teacher, she began writing, specialising in children's literature.
