Shana Hammaker grew up reading Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary, unsure whether she related more to Ramona Quimby or Ralph S. Mouse. It turns out that she had more in common with their creators. Shana wrote her first story for a fourth-grade assignment. It was a tragic tale of a young person born with rubber bands in place of bones, and it didn't end well, either for the characters or the readers. Thankfully, Shana has had a lot of practice with the literary form since then. She has gone on to write a slew of short thrillers, a couple of memoirs, and a YA novel. Shana writes with warmth, with a clear-eyed love of humanity, and with a healthy dose of HOPE. Shana's latest work, The Santa Strike, will be out in the fall of 2023.