Marie Rutkoski is an American children's writer and professor at Brooklyn College. Born in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1977, she earned a B.A. in English with a minor in French from the University of Iowa in 1999. She went on to complete both her M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Harvard University, finishing her doctorate in 2006. Rutkoski lives in Brooklyn with her family and two cats, Cloud and Firefly. She maintains an active web presence through her official website and social media.