Katherine Alice Applegate (born October 9, 1956), known professionally as K. A. Applegate, is an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the ''

Animorphs ''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of youth books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all si ...

'', '' Remnants'', and '' Everworld'' book series. She won the 2013

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

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 several awards. She also wrote a chapter book series in 2008–09 called ''Roscoe Riley Rules''.

Life and career

Applegate was born on October 9, 1956, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. Since then, she has lived in Texas, Florida, California, Illinois, and North Carolina. After living in Pelago,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for a year, she moved back to

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

. She got her start as a ghostwriter for '' Sweet Valley Twins''. In 1997, she and her husband, Michael Grant (her co-author on many projects, including ''Animorphs'' and ''Everworld'') had their first child, who has since come out as a transgender woman. In 2003, they adopted a daughter, Julia, from China. Following the end of ''Remnants'', Applegate took three years off. Upon returning to writing, she wrote a picture book, ''Buffalo Storm'', a middle reader novel, ''Home of the Brave'', and an early chapters series, ''Roscoe Riley Rules'', with

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. ''Home of the Brave'' 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

for '' The One and Only Ivan'', drawn by Patricia Castelao and published by

. The annual award, granted by the American Library Association, recognizes the previous year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." The story, based on the real-life Ivan the gorilla, is written from Ivan's viewpoint as he lives in a glass cage in a shopping mall. According to the award committee: "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."

Selected works

Picture books

* ''Jack Rabbit and the Beanstalk'' (1998) * ''The Buffalo Storm'' (2007) *''Sometimes You Fly'' (2018) *''Ivan: A Gorilla's True Story'' (2020)

''Animorphs'' series

;Companion books * '' Megamorphs 1: The Andalite's Gift'' (1997) * '' Megamorphs 2: In the Time of Dinosaurs'' (1998) * '' Megamorphs 3: Elfangor's Secret'' (1999) * '' Megamorphs 4: Back to Before'' (2000) * '' The Andalite Chronicles'' (1997) * '' The Hork-Bajir Chronicles'' (1998) * '' The Ellimist Chronicles'' (2000) * '' Visser'' (2000) * '' Alternamorphs 1: The First Journey'' (1999) (ghostwritten by Tonya Alicia Martin) * '' Alternamorphs 2: The Next Passage'' (2000) (ghostwritten by Emily Costello)

''Everworld'' series

* ''Search for Senna'' (1999) * ''Land of Loss'' (1999) * ''Enter the Enchanted'' (1999) * ''Realm of the Reaper'' (2000) * ''Discover the Destroyer'' (2000) * ''Fear the Fantastic'' (2000) * ''Gateway to the Gods'' (2000) * ''Brave the Betrayal'' (2000) * ''Inside the Illusion'' (2000) * ''Understand the Unknown'' (2000) * ''Mystify the Magician'' (2001) * ''Entertain the End'' (2001)

''Remnants'' series

* ''The Mayflower Project'' (2001) * ''Destination Unknown'' (2001) * ''Them'' (2001) * ''Nowhere Land'' (2002) * ''Mutation'' (2002) * ''Breakdown'' (2002) * ''Isolation'' (2002) * ''Mother, May I?'' (2002) * ''No Place Like Home'' (2002) * ''Lost and Found'' (2003) * ''Dream Storm'' (2003) * ''Aftermath'' (2003) * ''Survival'' (2003) * ''Begin Again'' (2003)

''Making Out'' series

First edition publication dates are based upon the original publication when the series was titled ''Boyfriends/Girlfriends''. Only the first eight books were written by Applegate. Books 9–28 were ghostwritten. The 28 books in this series are: * ''Zoey Fools Around'' (1994) * ''Jake Finds Out'' (1994) * ''Nina Won't Tell'' (1994) * ''Slater's In Love'' (1994) * ''Claire Gets Caught'' (1994) * ''What Zoey Saw'' (1994) * ''Lucas Gets Hurt'' (1994) * ''Aisha Goes Wild'' (1994) * ''Zoey Plays Games'' (1996) * ''Nina Shapes Up'' (1996) * ''Ben Takes a Chance'' (1996) * ''Claire Can't Lose'' (1996) * ''Don't Tell Zoey'' (1996) * ''Aaron Lets Go'' (1996) * ''Who Loves Kate?'' (1996) * ''Lara Gets Even'' (1996) * ''Two-Timing Aisha'' (1996) * ''Zoey Speaks Out'' (1996) * ''Kate Finds Love'' (1997) * ''Never Trust Lara'' (1997) * ''Trouble with Aaron'' (1997) * ''Always Loving Zoey'' (1997) * ''Lara Gets Lucky'' (1997) * ''Now Zoey's Alone'' (1997) * ''Don't Forget Lara'' (1998) * ''Zoey's Broken Heart'' (1998) * ''Falling for Claire'' (1998) * ''Zoey Comes Home'' (1998)

''Ocean City/Making Waves'' series

Originally published as ''Ocean City'' and republished as ''Making Waves'', this series is unrelated to the Summer/Making Waves series below. * ''Making Waves'' (1993) * ''Tease'' (1993) * ''Sweet'' (1993) * ''Thrill'' (1993) * ''Heat'' (1994) * ''Heat Wave'' (1994) * ''Bonfire'' (1994) * ''Swept Away'' (1995) * ''Shipwrecked'' (1995) * ''Beach Party'' (1995) * ''Forever'' (1995)

''Summer'' series

This series was originally published as ''Making Waves'' in the UK. * ''June Dreams'' (1995) * ''July's Promise'' (1995) * ''August Magic'' (1995) * ''Beaches, Boys, and Betrayal'' (1996) * ''Sand, Surf, and Secrets'' (1996) * ''Rays, Romance, and Rivalry'' (1996) * ''Christmas Special Edition'' (1996) * ''Spring Break Reunion'' (1996)

''Roscoe Riley Rules'' series

* ''Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs'' (2008) * ''Never Swipe a Bully's Bear'' (2008) * ''Don't Swap Your Sweater for a Dog'' (2008) * ''Never Swim in Applesauce'' (2008) * ''Don't Tap-Dance on Your Teacher'' (2009) * ''Never Walk in Shoes That Talk'' (2009) * ''Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin'' (2009)

'' One and Only'' series

* '' The One and Only Ivan'' (2012) * '' The One and Only Bob'' (2020) * ''The One and Only Ruby'' (2023) * ''The One and Only Family'' (2024)

''Endling'' series

* ''Endling #1: The Last'' (2018) * ''Endling #2: The First'' (2019) * ''Endling #3: The Only'' (2021)

''Doggo and Pupper'' series

* ''Doggo and Pupper'' (2021) * ''Doggo and Pupper Save the World'' (2022) * ''Doggo and Pupper Search for Cozy'' (2023)

Other books

* ''The Story of Two American Generals: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. and Colin L. Powell'' (1991; nonfiction) * ''Please Don't Go'' (1992) * ''My Sister's Boyfriend'' (1992) * ''The World's Best Jinx McGee'' (1992) * ''The Unbelieveable Truth'' (1992) *

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's '' The Little Mermaid''

prequels A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

(1994): ''King Triton, Beware!''; ''The Haunted Palace;'' ''The Boyfriend Mix-Up'' * ''Disney's Christmas With All the Trimmings: Original Stories and Crafts from Mickey Mouse and Friends'' (1994) * ''Sharing Sam'' (1995) * ''Tales from Agrabah: Seven Original Stories of Aladdin and Jasmine'' (1995) * ''Listen to My Heart'' (1996) * ''Off Limits'' (2001) * ''Home of the Brave'' (2007) * '' Eve & Adam'' (with Michael Grant) (2013) * ''Crenshaw'' (2015) * ''Wishtree'' (2017) * ''Willodeen'' (2021) * ''Odder'' (2022)

Pseudonyms

* L.E. Blair: '' Girl Talk'' novels * Katherine Kendall (with Michael Grant):

Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

romance novels * Beth Kincaid: ''Silver Creek Riders'' series * A.R. Plumb, and later, as Katherine Applegate:

's ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' series * Pat Pollari: '' Barf-O-Rama'' series * Nicholas Stephens: ''Disney's Enter If You Dare: Scary Tales from the Haunted Mansion'' (1995); ''Disney's Climb Aboard If You Dare: Stories from the Pirates of the Caribbean'' (1996)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Applegate, K. A. 1956 births American children's writers American fantasy writers American women novelists Newbery Medal winners People from Irvine, California American women science fiction and fantasy writers Novelists from Michigan Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan Writers from California 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Living people American women children's writers American women writers of young adult literature Writers of young adult science fiction American young adult novelists Animorphs Ghostwriters