Michael de Guzman's first novel for kids, "Melonhead," was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2002. It was a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age. Since then he's written seven more. Prior to that he wrote television movies for the major networks. He was nominated for an Emmy, a Writers Guild Award and a Razzie. Several of his novels have been translated into other languages. In his own words, "I write about kids because I am one, and because I think they get the short end of the stick." He attended Trinity School in New York City and the University of Rhode Island, where he met his wife, to whom he is still delightfully married. They live in Seattle, Washington.