Maria Padian

Maria Padian is a "from-away" Mainer (meaning she calls Maine home but was born in New York) and award-winning author of young adult novels. A passionate bookworm who can't keep up with the stack on her night table, she worked as a freelance writer, essayist, broadcast journalist and congressional aide before turning full time to fiction. Her debut novel, "Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress" (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008) was chosen by the ALA and YALSA as one of the Best Books for Young Adults in 2009 and also received a Maine Literary Award and Maine Lupine Honor Award. Other books include "Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best," (Knopf BFYR, 2011) "Out of Nowhere," (Knopf BFYR, 2013) and "Wrecked," (Algonquin YR, 2016.)

A graduate of Middlebury College and the University of Virginia, Maria plays USTA league tennis, gardens, skies, drinks too much coffee, loads logs into her wood stove and walks her Australian Shepherd when she's not hanging out with imaginary people. She lives on Maine's midcoast with her family and can be found at www.mariapadian.com.