Elana K. Arnold is the author of critically acclaimed and award-winning young adult novels and children’s books, including the Printz Honor winner DAMSEL, the National Book Award finalist WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF, and Global Read Aloud selection A BOY CALLED BAT and its sequels. THE BLOOD YEARS was the winner of the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award. Elana teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program and lives in Southern California with her family and menagerie of pets.