K. A. Applegate
K. A. Applegate
Katherine Alice Applegateis an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the Animorphs, Remnants, Everworld, and other book series. She won the 2013 Newbery Medal for her 2012 children's novel The One and Only Ivan. Applegate's most popular books are science fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels. She won the Best New Children's Book Series Award in 1997 in Publishers Weekly. Her book Home of the Brave has won two awards. She has recently written...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth9 October 1956
CountryUnited States of America
At the end of the day, I'd love to see children stop begging their parents to go to the circus. That's what would make me most happy.
As a species, we can at times be dimwitted and cruel. But we're also capable of learning.
Stan is a rescue Chihuahua mix. He was the role model for Bob, the dog in 'Ivan.' The drawings in the book look precisely like Stan.
I was sure I wanted to grow up to be either a veterinarian or a writer. In fact, I worked for a vet during high school, doing everything from cleaning cages to assisting in surgery.
I really love writing, but I am very easily distracted: my two cats fighting, a rainbow, a TV show... I have to use every trick to keep myself at the computer.
When I was a child, going to a circus with wild animal acts was a rite of passage. These days, it's an act of complicit cruelty.
I love any excuse to come to New York - when it's not February.
One of the reasons I love writing for middle graders, besides their voracious appetite for books, is their deep concern for fairness and morality.
I think we have a real obligation when we do have animals in captivity to understand their needs and to care for them as well as we can.
I hate to witness animals in captivity - or see circus elephants paraded down the streets. When animals are caged, it's a loss of what they are.
I think younger readers connect so readily to animal characters because they share a certain vulnerability, particularly when it comes to adult humans, who can be a rather unpredictable lot.
I think having imaginary friends is an amazing coping mechanism. It's pretty wonderful, and it makes a lot of sense to me.
I've got to believe I'm the first person to win the Newbery who has written a Harlequin romance!
I was writing at a really young age, but it took me a long time to be brave enough to become a published writer, or to try to become a published writer. It's a very public way to fail. And I was kind of scared, so I started out as a ghost writer, and I wrote for other series, like Disney 'Aladdin' and 'Sweet Valley' and books like that.