Tehlor Kay Mejia

TEHLOR KAY MEJIA is a bestselling and award winning author of young adult and middle grade fiction.

Their debut young adult novel, WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE, received six starred reviews, as well as the Oregon Spirit Book Award for debut fiction, and the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award runner up honor for debut speculative fiction. It has been featured on Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s best books lists, and was a 2019 book of the year selection by Kirkus and School Library Journal.

Tehlor’s debut middle grade novel, PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS, was published by the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney/Hyperion. It received four starred reviews, and was named Amazon’s best book of 2020 in the 9-12 age range. It is currently in development at Disney as a television series to be produced by Eva Longoria.

Their highly anticipated adult debut, SAMMY ESPINOZA’S LAST REVIEW, will be available from Ballantine Bantam Dell in the summer of 2023.

Tehlor strives to create stories which showcase the importance of community, radical inclusion, and abolitionist values. They live with their child, partner, and two small dogs in their home state of Oregon, and is active on Instagram @tehlorkay.