K. A. Applegate
Author of The One and Only Ivan
About the Author
Katherine Applegate was born in Michigan on July 19, 1956. She writes science fiction, young adult romances, and pop-up books. She is the author of the Making Waves, Making Out, and Roscoe Riley Rules series. She writes the Animorphs, Everworld, and Remnants series under the pen name K. A. show more Applegate. She also writes under the pen names of C. Archer, Catherine Kendall and Elizabeth Benning. She has received numerous awards including a Golden Duck Award (Eleanor Cameron Award for Middle Grades) for The Message in 1997, the SCBWI 2008 Golden Kite Award for Best Fiction and the Bank Street 2008 Josette Frank Award for Home of the Brave, and the 2013 Newbery Medal and the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Illinois) for The One and Only Ivan. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by K. A. Applegate
Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla (2014) — Author — 522 copies, 28 reviews
Tan Lines: Sand, Surf, and Secrets; Rays, Romance, and Rivalry; Beaches, Boys, and Betrayal (Summer) (2008) 132 copies, 5 reviews
Disney's Christmas With All the Trimmings: Original Stories and Crafts from Mickey Mouse and Friends (1994) 19 copies
Newbery Award Favorite Library 8 Book Box Set : Charlotte's Web, The One and Only Ivan, Ella Enchanted, Dragonwings (2020) — Contributor — 18 copies
Animorphs Set 19-22 (#19 - The Departure, #20 - The Discovery, #21 - The Threat, #22 - The Solution) (1998) 7 copies
Animorphs Boxed Set #11: Books 41-44 4 copies
ANIMORPHS: MEGAMORPHS, 4 Volumes: 1, 2, 3, 4: The Andalite's Gift / In the Time of Dinosaurs / Elfangor's Secret / Back to Before (2000) 3 copies
Animorphs Boxed Set: The Conspiracy / The Separation / The Illusion / The Prophecy / The Proposal / The Mutation (2000) 3 copies
Animorphs Boxed Set #12: Books 45-48 3 copies
Explore the World's of K.A. Applegate: Animorphs, 1: The Invasion, Everworlds, 1: Search for Senna, Remnants, 1: The Mayflower Project (2002) 2 copies
Animorphs: The First Journal 1 copy
Book One: Ending 1 copy
Ever World 1 copy
White Fang 1 copy
Land of the Lost 1 copy
Old Moore's Horoscopes and Daily Astral Diaries: Aquarius (Old Moore's 2001 horoscope) (2000) 1 copy
Animorphus Series 38 Titles! 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Applegate, Katherine Alice
- Other names
- Applegate, Katherine
Archer, C.
Benning, Elizabeth
Blair, L.E.
Kendall, Katherine
Kincaid, Beth (show all 11)
Michaels, Katherine
Plumb, A.R.
Pollari, Pat
Stephens, Nicholas
Young, Alida E - Birthdate
- 1956-07-19
- Gender
- female
- Relationships
- Grant, Michael (husband) (4)
- Short biography
- Katherine Applegate is the author of The One and Only Ivan, winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal. Her novel Crenshaw spent over twenty weeks on the New York Times children's bestseller list, and her first middle-grade stand-alone novel, the award-winning Home of the Brave, continues to be included on state reading lists, summer reading lists, and class reading lists.
Katherine has written three picture books: The Buffalo Storm; The Remarkable True Story of Ivan, the Shopping Mall Gorilla (often used as a companion book to The One and Only Ivan for younger readers); and Sometimes You Fly (publishing in spring, 2018). For beginning readers, Katherine wrote Roscoe Riley Rules, a seven-book series.
With her husband, Michael Grant, Katherine co-wrote Animorphs, a long-running series that has sold over 35 million books worldwide.
Katherine lives in Marin County, California, with her family and assorted pets. - Nationality
- USA (birth)
- Birthplace
- Michigan, USA
- Places of residence
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Michigan, USA
Texas, USA
Florida, USA
Irvine, California, USA
Minnesota, USA (show all 8)
Illinois, USA
Pelago, Italy - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
Found: YA horse book series in Name that Book (February 2025)
80s-90s preteen series fic; mismatched gal pals; tough girl Roxie or Randi w/ black spiky hair; pink in Name that Book (June 2013)
YA Science fiction novel in Name that Book (August 2010)
Reviews
Two books ago an adult Cassie pulled the same move they're pulling here, and she was in much direr circumstances. She was textually labelled as a terrorist by Jake, in a book written and published less than a year after 9/11. Meanwhile here Jake has no problems blowing up a highly populated area and Cassie is passively framed as in the wrong until the last few chapters. I don't mind Jake being a hypocrite, he's a teenage warlord in unprecedented times, and on a watsonian level he doesn't show more even remember the actions of their adult selves, but I do mind on a doylist level when we go around framing the only Black character as- in turns- a terrorist or a navel-gazing coward.
The book itself is good but that bit is rancid background radiation. show less
The book itself is good but that bit is rancid background radiation. show less
Willodeen lives in the village of Perchance with Mae and Birdie, who took her in after her parents and little brother died in one of the increasingly frequent fires. Willodeen tends to keep to herself, with just her hummingbear Duuzuu for company; his wings were singed in the fire and he can no longer fly to migrate with the rest of the hummingbears that are the main tourist attraction in Perchance. But the hummingbears have been coming less in recent years, and no one knows why.
Willodeen show more is the only one in town who cares about the screechers: creatures with tusks, spiky tails, and a ferocious stink (when frightened, like skunks). Because of a bounty on them, the screecher population has dipped to almost zero. When Willodeen's new friend Connor makes her a model of one out of natural materials, it seems to come to life, and Willodeen and Connor care for it.
*Spoilers*
It turns out, the screechers are part of a delicate ecosystem: they dig for peacock snails at the base of the blue willow trees that the hummingbears nest in; the hummingbears' bubble nests only stick to willow leaves where screechers have been eating snails. Willodeen and Connor stand up and explain the connection to the town, and slowly, they help restore Nature's order.
Quotes
I wanted adults to make sense of the world. I needed them to promise I would always be protected, even though I knew it was impossible....And yet, part of me welcomed their honesty. Birdie and Mae were grown-ups who weren't afraid to admit they didn't have all the answers. (189-190)
"When screechers were invented, Mother Nature made them scented." (192) show less
Willodeen show more is the only one in town who cares about the screechers: creatures with tusks, spiky tails, and a ferocious stink (when frightened, like skunks). Because of a bounty on them, the screecher population has dipped to almost zero. When Willodeen's new friend Connor makes her a model of one out of natural materials, it seems to come to life, and Willodeen and Connor care for it.
*Spoilers*
It turns out, the screechers are part of a delicate ecosystem: they dig for peacock snails at the base of the blue willow trees that the hummingbears nest in; the hummingbears' bubble nests only stick to willow leaves where screechers have been eating snails. Willodeen and Connor stand up and explain the connection to the town, and slowly, they help restore Nature's order.
Quotes
I wanted adults to make sense of the world. I needed them to promise I would always be protected, even though I knew it was impossible....And yet, part of me welcomed their honesty. Birdie and Mae were grown-ups who weren't afraid to admit they didn't have all the answers. (189-190)
"When screechers were invented, Mother Nature made them scented." (192) show less
Actually 3.75 stars.
*Crenshaw* by Katherine Applegate is a really sweet story about a boy named Jackson and his imaginary friend—a giant cat named Crenshaw—who shows up again when Jackson's family is going through a rough time. They're facing homelessness again, and Jackson has to deal with all these fears he's been trying to ignore and figure out that it's okay to have hope even when everything feels hopeless.
What I loved about this book is how it talks about really hard stuff like show more poverty and not having a stable place to live, but does it in a way that's honest without being too heavy or preachy. Crenshaw is such a great character—he's funny and wise and comforting all at once. He made me laugh while also helping Jackson (and me as the reader) get through the tough emotional parts.
Applegate's writing is straightforward but really hits you in the feels. There were moments that made me tear up and others that made me smile. I thought the way she wrote Jackson's relationship with his parents was beautiful—you can tell they love each other so much even when things are really, really hard.
This is a quick read but it definitely stays with you. It's written for kids but I think adults would get a lot out of it too. It reminded me how powerful imagination can be, why it's important to face what's real, and that being vulnerable actually makes us stronger. Such a beautiful book. show less
*Crenshaw* by Katherine Applegate is a really sweet story about a boy named Jackson and his imaginary friend—a giant cat named Crenshaw—who shows up again when Jackson's family is going through a rough time. They're facing homelessness again, and Jackson has to deal with all these fears he's been trying to ignore and figure out that it's okay to have hope even when everything feels hopeless.
What I loved about this book is how it talks about really hard stuff like show more poverty and not having a stable place to live, but does it in a way that's honest without being too heavy or preachy. Crenshaw is such a great character—he's funny and wise and comforting all at once. He made me laugh while also helping Jackson (and me as the reader) get through the tough emotional parts.
Applegate's writing is straightforward but really hits you in the feels. There were moments that made me tear up and others that made me smile. I thought the way she wrote Jackson's relationship with his parents was beautiful—you can tell they love each other so much even when things are really, really hard.
This is a quick read but it definitely stays with you. It's written for kids but I think adults would get a lot out of it too. It reminded me how powerful imagination can be, why it's important to face what's real, and that being vulnerable actually makes us stronger. Such a beautiful book. show less
Katherine Applegate's Pocket Bear is an absolute delight of a book. It's heart-warming, but treacle-free, which isn't an easy balance to pull off. It's kind, but also acknowledges that life isn't always that way. The mother and daughter at the book's center are refugees from Ukraine. Pocket Bear spent time in the U.S. Army during WWI and saw more combat than he would have liked. Zephyrina, a cat, scouts the neighborhood for lost or discarded stuffed animals. The daughter cleans them up and show more makes necessary repairs, then puts them up for "adoption." Meanwhile, as the two humans sleep, Pocket Bear keeps the stuffed animals in line, making sure their frolicking doesn't give away the secret that the toys are really alive.
The promo material suggests this title is for ages 8 to 12. I'm in my middle 60s and adored it. If you're looking for a book to share with a young friend—or just want a bit of comfort reading—Pocket Bear is the title for you.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. show less
The promo material suggests this title is for ages 8 to 12. I'm in my middle 60s and adored it. If you're looking for a book to share with a young friend—or just want a bit of comfort reading—Pocket Bear is the title for you.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. show less
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 352
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 90,351
- Popularity
- #109
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,551
- ISBNs
- 2,162
- Languages
- 26
- Favorited
- 42
