There is something amazing about reading a book and recognizing locations that you have visited, or those that you knew extremely well. It is even better when you read an author’s biography and realize that someone who’s work you enjoy lives nearby. It connects me to that story, and that author, even more. Here are some authors of children’s chapter books that live right here in the Nutmeg State that you might want to explore.

Suzanne Collins lives in village of Sandy Hook Connecticut,  a town of which everyone is now familiar, with her husband and their two children. You might know her best for the Hunger Games series, but prior to that she wrote for several television series on Nickelodeon  and Scholastic Entertainment. She also wrote a very popular The Underland Chronicles, which began with Gregor the Overlander.

Gregor the Overlander

Hunger Games

Patricia Reilly Giff is a resident of Weston Connecticut. You might recognize her name from a wide range of chater books that focus on normal children and families becoming extraordinary through everyday life. She is the author of the Zigzag Kids series, the Polk Street School Books series, Eleven, Wild Girl, Water Street, and a number more very popular titles. Patricia Reilly Giff has received the Newbery Honor for Pictures of Hollis Woods and Lily’s Crossing, which is also a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor Book. Her book Nory Ryan’s Song was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA Notable Book.

Wild Girl

Nory Ryan’s Song

Suzy Kline lives in Torrington Connecticut. She has written several chapter book that you might recognize; such as the Herbie Jones series, the Horrible Harry series, the Song Lee series, Orp, and Molly’s in a Mess. She often visits classrooms and talks to students about writing. When she does, she brings along a bag of rejections to show that even a now successful writer had her share of ‘no thank you’s’ in the beginning.

Orp and the FBI

Horrible Harry and the Secret Treasure

Mike Lupica is a New York Times bestselling author of several books for young readers, he also happens to live in New Canaan Connecticut. His books tend to focus on sports, and everything that goes along with achievement and teamwork. Some of his most popular titles include Heat, Hero, The Underdogs, and the Comeback Kids series.

Heat

Long shot : A Comeback Kids novel