Polly Horvath is an American-Canadian author of novels for children and young adults. She won the 2003 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The Canning Season, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Horvath was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She's been writing since the age of eight. She attended college in Toronto as well as the Canadian College of Dance. She lived in New York City and Montreal before settling on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia. She was a finalist for the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1999 and a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 2002 before winning the National Book Award. She won the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award in 2013 for One Year in Coal Harbor. Horvath once declared: "I don't have that much fun writing them. I have the most fun when I'm on the last page." She is married to Arnie Keller. They have two daughters, Emily and Rebecca. 

January 30th, 1957 in Kalamazoo (Age 67)