Margaret Peterson Haddix, young adult fiction author of 23 books has made fans all over the country.

Margaret Peterson Haddix, acclaimed young adult author of the Shadow Children series, had an unlikely start. Born on April 9, 1964, in Washington Court House, Ohio, Haddix spent the first half of her writing career as a news reporter, after graduating from Miami University with degrees in English, Journalism and History. A young farm girl from Ohio, Haddix never dreamed she would end up writing best-selling fiction for teens, however many teens are happy she did.

Haddix and Running Out of Time

Her first book, Running Out of Time, about a diphtheria epidemic hitting the town of a thirteen-year old girl who discovers a startling secret, was published in 1995 and launched Haddix into stardom. Nine years later, however, in 2004, controversy struck this fan-favorite when many realized the striking similarity in plot to M. Night Shyamalan’s The Villiage. Though no legal action ahs been taken yet, many fans continue to be outraged.

Haddix and the Sci-Fi Genre

Though Haddix began her fiction career with thoughts of writing realistic fiction, she quickly found her niche with science fiction and thrillers. What makes Haddix’s science fiction more accessible, is its placement in a society that seems like a current American society, but ends up having unexpected and often eerie connections to places and people who are clearly not mainstream.

Awards

Throughout her thirteen-year career of writing young adult fiction, Haddix has been honored with a number of awards, including but not limited to the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, International Reading Association Children's Book Award, and various state Readers' Choice Awards. Luckily for many young adults, Haddix is far from finished with her fiction. She has started a new series, the first book, Found, to be released in April 2008, called The Missing, and the popularity of her previous Shadow Children series is certain to make this new series a hit.

Haddix’s Fiction

Haddix currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with her family. Her husband Doug is a newspaper editor, and they have two children, Meredith and Connor. A list of her currently-published young adult fiction follows:

-Running Out of Time (1995)

-Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey (1996)

-Leaving Fishers (1997)

-Among the Hidden (Shadow Children series) (1998)

-Just Ella (1999)

-Turnabout (2000)

-Among the Imposters (Shadow Children series) (2001)

-The Girl With 500 Middle Names (2001)

-Takeoffs and Landings (2001)

-Among the Betrayed (Shadow Children series) (2002)

-Because of Anya (2002)

-Among the Barons (Shadow Children series) (2003)

-Escape From Memory (2003)

-Among the Brave (Shadow Children series) (2004)

-Say What (2004)

-The House on the Gulf (2004)

-Among the Enemy (Shadow Children series) (2005)

-Double Identity (2005)

-Among the Free (Shadow Children series) (2006)

-Dexter the Tough (2007)

-Uprising (2007)

-Found (The Missing) (2008)

-Palace of Mirrors (2008)