About
Laura St. John, owner/founder of Play In A Book and the creator of the Act It Read It Series™ for young readers PreK to Grade 8. Prior to founding the company in 2011, she worked 17 years as a Teaching Artist in Chicago Public Schools utilizing drama as a framework to help young readers gain basic phonics skills, fluency, and comprehension on their way to becoming lifelong readers. Laura’s writing is currently used in classrooms throughout Chicago and has been performed and enjoyed by thousands of students. In addition to the ten titles in the series, Laura is publishing her juvenile horror novel, The Lake Michigan Monster, in the Fall of 2026. She collaborated on Through The Cracks, a seminal call for more arts integration in schools (1994, Davis Publications), and is a 1993 graduate of Ball State University. She lives with her husband and youngest daughter in the Forest Glen neighborhood of Chicago.
Featured Work
The Lake Michigan Monster
Something is waking beneath Lake Michigan.
It's otherworldly. It's hungry. And it's calling to George.
George feels everything slipping out of control ― and she can't speak up to stop it. Her trusted caregiver, Verity, is hiding something. The new girl, Blessing, won't stop coming for her, online and off. Even her best friend Jam can't help her make sense of it all. Then the nightmare rises from the lake and terror spills into the streets of Chicago. Only George, Jam, and Blessing can stop it.
Will George find the courage to her her voice before its lost for good?
Set in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, this fully illustrated juvenile horror from author Laura St. John and Illustrator Janine Carrington showcases students from the neighborhood coming together to grapple with a tentacled monster from the deep and helping to right an ancient wrong. Coming soon from Play In A Book.
