Jill Santopolo

Jill Santopolo is the author of the nationally and internationally bestselling novel The Light We Lost, which has been translated into more than 35 languages and has hit both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.

She is also the author of the Alec Flint Mysteries, the Sparkle Spa series, and the Follow Your Heart books.

Jill holds a BA in English Literature from Columbia University, an MFA in Writing for Children from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a certificate in Intellectual Property Law from NYU.

She is the associate publisher of Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, where she edits many critically-acclaimed, award-winning, and best-selling books including Girling Up by Mayim Bialik, She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff, A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi, The Castle in the Mist by Amy Ephron, Calling All Minds by Temple Grandin, Peanut Butter & Cupcake! by Terry Border, Turning Pages/Pasando Paginas by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Lulu Delacre, and Superheroes Are Everywhere by Senator Kamala Harris and Mechal Roe.

Jill has worked as a thesis advisor at The New School in their MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and was on the faculty of the Columbia Publishing Course. She was also formerly an adjunct professor at McDaniel College, where she helped develop the curriculum for their certificate program in Writing for Children.

Jill has traveled all over the U.S.—and to Canada and Europe—to speak about writing and storytelling.