Lauren Tarshis was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is the author of Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love, and the I Survived series. She is also an editorial director for language arts at Scholastic, the editor of Storyworks magazine, and oversees Scope magazine. Her title, I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii 79 A. D. made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2014.