Joan Baehler Bauer is an American writer of young adult literature currently living in Brooklyn. The main characters in her books are typically teenagers who are dealing with complicated family issues, such as alcoholism, abandonment, illness, and self-esteem issues, but such issues are faced with a light touch and humor is added in to lighten it up. Bauer was born in River Forest, Illinois. Before publishing her first book, she worked for the Chicago Tribune, McGraw-Hill books, and WLS Radio. She has won several awards for her writing including a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and a Christopher Award. Bauer is married and the parent of one daughter. Bauer's first book was set in rural Iowa: Squashed, published in 1992 by Delacorte Press, a Dell Publishing imprint. According to Delacorte, she won its annual Prize for an Outstanding First Young Adult Novel. "Sixteen-year-old Ellie Morgan's life would be almost perfect if she could just get her potentially prize-winning pumpkin to put on about 200 more pounds?and if she could take off 20 herself ... in hopes of attracting Wes, the new boy in town." 

July 11th, 1951 in Illinois (Age 72)