Cynthia DeFelice

Cynthia Carter DeFelice (December 8, 1951 – May 24, 2024) was an American children's writer. She wrote 16 novels and 12 picture books for young readers. The intended audience for her novels is children of reading ages nine to twelve.

Life and career Carter was born in 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was a psychiatrist, and her mother was an English teacher, who stopped working to raise Cynthia and her siblings. DeFelice credited her mother for sparking her interest in books. She graduated from William Smith College in 1973. Among her three siblings was former US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. She began writing children's books in 1987. She lived in Geneva, New York.