Author Isabelle Holland was born in Basel, Switzerland on June 16, 1920. Since her father was an American consul, she grew up in Guatemala City and Liverpool, England until 1940 when her family returned to the United States because of World War II. In 1942, she received a bachelor's degree from Tulane University. She then worked in the publicity departments for numerous magazines and publishing companies including McCall's, Crown, Lippincott, Harper's, and G. P. Putman. Her first novel, Cecily, was published in 1967 and was followed by about fifty other books for children, young adults, and adults. Many of her young adult novels deal with topics such as death, obesity, rape, and… homosexuality. Her novel, Of Love and Death and Other Journeys, was nominated for the 1975 National Book Award. Two of her novels, Bump in the Night and The Man Without a Face, were made into movies. She died in New York City on February 9, 2002 at the age of 81.