Susan McElroy Montanari spent the majority of her life on the beach and tidal creeks surrounding Savannah, Georgia.

 

She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Literature from Georgia Southern University. While living in Connecticut, Susan was a finalist in two categories for the 2010 Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Children’s Literature: one for her picture book, My Dog’s A Chicken, and the other for her middle-grade novel, The Day Sasquatch Ate My Journal.

 

Susan’s publishing credits include; from Schwartz & Wade at Penguin Random House— My Dog’s A Chicken, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf (2016) (Northern Lights Humor Award), Who’s the Grossest of Them All? illustrated by Jake Parker (2016), Hip-Hop Lollipop (2018) (“School Library Journal” starred review) illustrated by two-time Caldecott Honor recipient Brian Pinkney, and Goldilocks for Dinner? (2019) (a” Junior Library Guild Selection” and “International Literacy Association Children’s Choice 2020 Reading List”) illustrated by Jake Parker, and from Source Books— The Halloween Tree (2019) illustrated by Theresa Martinez.  

 

Susan’s hobbies include gardening, scuba diving, natural science, legend tripping, and cryptozoology. Susan currently lives in Savannah, Georgia, with her husband, Dan, and a cat named Tybee.