Jennifer Donnelly was born in Port Chester, New York in 1963. She majored in English literature and European history at the University of Rochester. She primarily writes historical fiction for all age groups including The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, and The Wild Rose for adults, Revolution for young adults, and Humble Pie for children. Her first young adult novel, A Northern Light, was awarded Britain's Carnegie Medal, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction and a Michael L. Printz Honor.