Her mother taught her to value literature and to read often. Her father, a self-made millionaire who made his money in the steel industry, taught her the value of working hard and staying honest. She grew up in Palm Springs and went to private school through eighth grade. She was adopted by seventy-two-year-old Albert and forty-two-year old Valeria Wagner at birth. (And burning stuff.An Author Study and Writing Mini Lesson Author Biographyīest-selling, young adult novelist Ellen Hopkins was born in Long Beach, California in 1955. Since my life turned crazy busy, he has moved into the role of family chef. Only problem is, it’s likely my husband is baking them. The front door’s open, water’s on for tea, and there are cookies in the oven. I’m happy you’ve chosen to visit me here. Take a good, long look around and come back often. If you’re a teacher, librarian or assorted “other” hoping to schedule an author appearance, my personal life has slowed down a little and I’m happy to consider invitations. If you are asking your students to write to their favorite author, please know that I vastly prefer email to snail mail! The post office is twenty miles away and I don’t get there every day. To you wonderful teachers out there, you will find links to some really great reading guides for all my young adult novels.

Use other resources first, then target your email with five specific questions not answered anywhere else. But please understand I get many, many requests for interviews every day. If you don’t find the information you need here, feel free to contact me via email. Please visit my For Students section, also on the Reference page. Many of you may be researching for school projects. Oh, and if you’re a writer, there’s a whole section with tips on writing and publishing on the Reference page. (Did you know I published twenty nonfiction books for children before moving into young adult fiction?) You can also learn where I might be appearing, and discover the answers to frequently asked questions.

If you just want to know more about my books, you’ll find information on those here. If you’re up for a little time travel, check out my bio page. If you’re here, it probably means you want to know more about me, so where do we start? To go all the way back to my beginning requires rewinding-eek!-over six decades.

Author ellen hopkins