Kekla Magoon is the author of many novels and nonfiction books for young readers, including The Season of Styx Malone, How It Went Down, The Rock and the River, and the Robyn Hoodlum Adventure series. She has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe Award for New Talent, four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, the Walter Award Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and inclusion on the National Book Award Longlist.

Kekla conducts school and library visits nationwide and serves on the Writers Council for the National Writing Project. She holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she now serves on faculty.