Jacqueline Woodson was born on February 12th in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in Greenville, North Carolina and Brooklyn, New York. Her writing career began when she was made the literary editor of a magazine in fifth grade. An encouraging seventh-grade English teacher further nudged her in that direction. After receiving a B.A. in English, she worked as a drama therapist for runaways and homeless children in New York, but she never lost the urge to write about the people and communities with which she grew up. In her books, she writes about a variety of races, ethnic groups, and social classes, as well as strong female characters. The goal of her writing is "to show people that no matter who you are in the world, it's okay to be who you are."

Woodson has won the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence in Fiction. Among her books are Lena, The House You Pass on the Way, and the Coretta Scott King Honor Book I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This. A recent novel, Locomotion, won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. In 2006, her picture book Show Way won a Caldecott Honor.