Carolyn Marsden

Carolyn Marsden is an author whose work often comes out of her own children’s experiences, such as Moon Runner, which she based on her daughter’s experience of suddenly finding that she is a talented athlete and the tension that caused with her friends. She also likes to write books about children who are either new to the United States or about children in other countries partly because she was born in Mexico City and partly because she has a Thai husband and our two daughters are half Thai. Carolyn is the author of The Gold-Threaded Dress and its sequel, The Quail Club, as well as Silk Umbrellas, Moon Runner, Mama Had to Work on Christmas and The Jade Dragon, which she co-wrote with Virginia Shin-Mui Loh. Before writing full-time, Carolyn worked as a teacher and writer-in-residence. She has an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College and lives in California with her family.