Margaret Peterson Haddix

Margaret Peterson Haddix (born April 9, 1964) is an American writer known best for the two children's series, Shadow Children (1998–2006) and The Missing (2008–2015). She also wrote the tenth volume in the multiple-author series The 39 Clues.

Biography Haddix grew up on a farm about halfway between two small towns: Washington Court House, Ohio, and Sabina, Ohio. Her family was predominantly farmers and she grew up in a family of voracious readers. Some of her favorite books growing up included E.L. Konigsburg books, Harriet the Spy, Anne of Green Gables, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Anne Frank, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and A Little Princess.

She graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with degrees in English/Journalism, English/Creative Writing, and History. While in college, Haddix worked a series of jobs. She was an assistant cook at a 4-H camp, but almost every other job has been related to writing. During college, she worked on the school newspaper and had summer internships at newspapers in Urbana, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Indianapolis, Indiana. Her previous work as a reporter inspired her to write fiction. After documenting a wide variety of topics, she wanted to create her own plots and characters. Haddix experienced a long period of having her writing rejected by publishers before her first two books were accepted in 1995 and 1996. Her first book was Running Out of Time, published when Haddix was pregnant with her second child, and her first child was one and a half years old. Her second book, Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, followed shortly after. The School for Whatnots, written in 2022, is Haddix’s most recently published stand-alone book. 1998 Oklahoma Library Association Sequoyah Book Award, Young Adult Running Out of Time 1998 Arizona Library Association Grand Canyon Reader Award, Intermediate Running Out of Time 1998–1999 Maryland Library Association Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, Grade 6–9 Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey 2004 Golden Duck Award, Eleanor Cameron Award Escape from Memory 2004–2005 Triple Crown Awards Lamplighter Award Among the Betrayed 2008 Ohioana Library Association Ohioana Book Award, Juvenile Literature Uprising 2009 Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award, Grades 3–5 Found 2009–2010 Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Found 2010 Salem State University Massachusetts Children's Book Award Found 2010 Nēnē Award Found 2011 Washington Library Association Sasquatch Book Award Found 2010–2011 Louisiana Center for the Book Louisiana Readers' Choice Award Found