Katherine Alice Applegate (born October 9, 1956), known professionally as K. A. Applegate, is an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the Animorphs, Remnants, and Everworld book series. She won the 2013 Newbery Medal for her 2012 children's novel The One and Only Ivan. Applegate's most popular books are science fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels. She won the Best New Children's Book Series Award in 1997 in Publishers Weekly. Her book Home of the Brave has won several awards. She also wrote a chapter book series in 2008–09 called Roscoe Riley Rules.

Life and career

Applegate was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since then, she has lived in Texas, Florida, California, Illinois, and North Carolina. After living in Pelago, Italy for a year, she moved back to Irvine, California. She got her start as a ghostwriter for Sweet Valley Twins. In 1997, she and her husband, Michael Grant (her co-author on many projects, including Animorphs and Everworld) had their first child, who has since come out as a transgender woman. In 2003, they adopted a daughter, Julia, from China. Following the end of Remnants, Applegate took three years off. Upon returning to writing, she wrote a picture book, Buffalo Storm, a middle reader novel, Home of the Brave, and an early chapters series, Roscoe Riley Rules, with HarperCollins. Home of the Brave won the SCBWI 2008 Golden Kite Award for Best Fiction, the Bank Street 2008 Josette Frank Award, and is a Judy Lopez Memorial Award honor book. Applegate won the 2013 Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan, drawn by Patricia Castelao and published by HarperCollins. The annual award, granted by the American Library Association, recognizes the previous year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." The story, based on the real-life Ivan the gorilla, is written from Ivan's viewpoint as he lives in a glass cage in a shopping mall. According to the award committee: "Applegate gives readers a unique and unforgettable gorilla's-eye-view of the world that challenges the way we look at animals and at ourselves."

Selected works

Picture books

Animorphs series

Everworld series

Remnants series

Making Out series

First edition publication dates are based upon the original publication when the series was titled Boyfriends/Girlfriends. Only the first eight books were written by Applegate. Books 9–28 were ghostwritten. The 28 books in this series are:

Ocean City/Making Waves series

Originally published as Ocean City and republished as Making Waves, this series is unrelated to the Summer/Making Waves series below.

Summer series

This series was originally published as Making Waves in the UK.

Roscoe Riley Rules series

Ivan & Friends series

Endling series

Doggo and Pupper series

Other books

Pseudonyms