Erin Entrada Kelly received the 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe, the 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten Girls, and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award for Blackbird Fly, among other honors.

She is a New York Times bestseller whose work has been translated into several languages. Her fifth book and first fantasy, Lalani of the Distant Sea, received six starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by the New York Public Library, The Horn Book, Booklist, BookPage, and others.

All Erin’s books are Junior Library Guild Selections.

In 2018, Hello, Universe and You Go First were both acquired for adaptation. Hello, Universe is being adapted by Netflix, and You Go First is being adapted for the stage.

Her sixth book, We Dream of Space, is her first work of historical fiction. It’s set in January 1986, in the weeks leading to the Challenger disaster.

Erin has a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies and liberal arts from McNeese State University and an MFA from Rosemont College. She lives in Delaware. She teaches in the MFA programs at Hamline University and Rosemont College. She also teaches fiction with Gotham Writers Workshop.

Erin is mestiza and identifies as Filipina-American. Her mother is Visayan.

You can learn more about Erin by visiting Frequently Asked Questions. You can even take a peek at her notebook.