“My visit to Nantucket was truly magical. I had the chance to present to school groups, and received such a warm welcome from enthusiastic and energetic students. The island itself was a magical oasis. I'd love to go back.” Julie Berry, 2013 NBF Visiting Author

Julie Berry is the author of the 2020 NCTE Amelia Walden Award and SCBWI Golden Kite Award winner Lovely War, which received seven starred reviews, and has been called “poignant” by The Horn Book, “mesmerizing” by Booklist, and “virtuoso” by the New York Times. She is also the author of the 2017 Printz Honor and Los Angeles Times Book Prize shortlisted The Passion of Dolssa, the Carnegie and Edgar shortlisted All the Truth That’s in Me, the Odyssey Honor The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, and many others. Her first three picture books, Long Ago, on a Silent Night; Don’t Let the Beasties Escape This Book; and Happy Right Now were released in 2019, with more to follow.

Julie is a board member of the California School Library Foundation. She holds a BS from Rensselaer in communication and an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults from Vermont College. Originally from upstate New York, Julie now lives in Southern California with her husband, sons, and two cats. Julie enjoys quilting, cooking, piano, running, hot yoga, musical theater, goofy movies, and admiring the hummingbirds that flock to her feeders.

In 2021, Julie became the new owner of The Book Shoppe in Medina, NY, which she is re-launching as Author's Note.