Karen HesseKaren Hesse is the author of numerous books for young people, including Out of the Dust, winner of the Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; The Cats in Krasinksi Square, illustrated by Wendy Waton; Letters from Rifka, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and Nights with Dad, illustrated by G. Brian Karas. She was also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellows Grant in 2002. She lives with her husband in Vermont. Read More Read Less