Author and ghostwriter of over a dozen middle grade and young adult novels published by Penguin Random House, Scholastic, and Little, Brown.
My first two series, I HEART BAND! and THE KAT SINCLAIR FILES, were published through Penguin's Grosset & Dunlap imprint. Since then, I have worked with the imprint on in-house licensed projects. Under the pseudonym Ellis Byrd, I wrote three of the four books in the ANIMAL JAM series based off National Geographic's popular online game with over 65 million registered users. Using an expansive bible filled with information about the characters and world of the game, I worked with my editors at Penguin and NatGeo to develop fun adventure chapter books aimed at children ages 8-12. I also wrote SPOTLIGHT ON CODING CLUB, the fourth book in the New York Times Bestselling Girls Who Code series.
My two standalone middle grade novels were published by Random House Children in 2017 and 2018. OLIVE AND THE BACKSTAGE GHOST received a starred review from Booklist, which called it "haunting and ethereal...nods to Edgar Allan Poe make it atmospheric, and Olive herself, a lonely heroine with ghosts in her past, give it soul."
SPELL & SPINDLE is a Junior Library Guild Selection and was hailed as "an excellent melding of horror and heart" in a starred review from Kirkus.
SECRETS OF TOPSEA, a series I co-author with Kirsten Hubbard under the pseudonyms Kir Fox and M. Shelley Coats, is a two-time Junior Library Guild selection. The first book, A FRIENDLY TOWN THAT'S ALMOST ALWAYS BY THE OCEAN!, came out in 2018, and the sequel, THE EXTREMELY HIGH TIDE, was released in 2019.
Scholastic published THE PROS OF CONS, a YA contemporary novel I co-authored with Alison Cherry and Lindsay Ribar, in 2018. PROS was honored by the American Library Association with inclusion on both the 2019 Rainbow List and Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers List. Publisher's Weekly called it "a laugh-out-loud romp" in a starred review.
My middle grade novels with Scholastic include THE DOG'S MEOW, SOME BUNNY TO LOVE, MY OTTER HALF (a bestseller in Scholastic Clubs and Fairs!), and the upcoming WADDLE I DO WITHOUT YOU.
Michelle Schusterman
Doll Bones meets Splendors and Glooms as a boy trades bodies with a wooden marionette.The Museum of Peculiar Arts holds many oddities--a mechanical heart, a diary bound in its owner's skin . . . and Penny, a child-size marionette who almost looks alive. Fog clouds Penny's memories from before the museum, but she catches glimpses here and there: a stage, deep red curtains, long-fingered hands g... read more
Michelle Schusterman
A ghost story with a literary heart for fans of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and The Graveyard Book. Theater kids and ghost-story readers alike will find new meaning in the term stage fright. All great theaters have their ghosts. . . . After Olive Preiss freezes during a theater camp audition, she flees in despair. She finds herself at Maudeville, a beautiful old theater that she’s never noticed bef... read more
Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, Michelle Schusterman
Drummer Phoebe Byrd prides herself on being one of the guys, and she's ready to prove it by kicking all their butts in the snare solo competition at the Indoor Percussion Association Convention.Writer Vanessa Montoya-O'Callaghan has been looking forward to the WTFcon for months. Not just because of the panels and fanfiction readings but because WTFcon is where she'll finally meet Soleil, her i... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Perfect for fans of The Babysitters Club and anyone interested in computer science, this series is published in partnership with the organization Girls Who Code!It's almost time for the talent show at school, and Erin couldn't be more excited. It's her time to take center stage! Plus, she and her friends from coding club are putting together an awesome coding program for the show. But Erin has... read more
Kir Fox, M. Shelley Coats
Welcome to Topsea, the strangest place you'll ever visit. In this town, the coves are bottomless and the pier has no end in sight. There's a high tide and a low tide... and a vanishing tide. Dogs are a myth, but mermaids are totally real. And seaweed is the main ingredient in every meal-watch out, it might just start chewing you back!New kid Davy definitely thinks Topsea is strange. His mom ke... read more
Kir Fox, M. Shelley Coats
Talise knows more about the ocean than any kid in Topsea. Any adult, too. As the best-and only-bathymetrist in Topsea, Talise is able to predict important things about the sea, like the next tide (Severely Low with a threat of Wildcard) or the arrival of Seaweed Season. What she can't predict, however, are her classmates' behaviors. Sometimes it's as if they're speaking different languages.Whe... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Kat didn’t believe in ghosts—until she became a teenage ghostbuster. . . When Kat Sinclair’s dad tells her his new job hosting the ghost-hunting TV show Passport to Paranormal means they’ll be living on the road and visiting the world’s most haunted places, Kat packs her bags without a second thought. But her new life as a ghostbuster isn’t as cool as Kat expected. The cast and crew don’t alwa... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Kat didn’t believe in ghosts—until she became a teenage ghostbuster. . .After a couple months at home dealing with her mother's upcoming wedding and trying on itchy bridesmaid dresses, Kat is more than happy to head off on another ghost-hunting and ghostbusting adventure with her dad—especially since the cast and crew of Passport to Paranormal are headed to Brazil and Argentina, and her new fr... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Teenage ghostbuster Kat is back, but this time, traveling halfway around the world might not be far away enough to escape from whatever is haunting her! As Passport to Paranormal sets off for Beijing and Seoul, Kat is ready to take her ghostbusting abroad. She hasn't seen the Thing since Argentina, but weird things have been happening ever since. Kat's handwriting is appearing in strange place... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Band Geeks unite in this fresh new middle-grade series by debut author (and former band director) Michelle Schusterman! Holly Mead’s first day of seventh grade isn’t going as planned. Her brother ruins her carefully chosen outfit, she’s almost late, and her new band director has some surprisingly strict rules. Worst of all, it seems like her best friend, Julia, has replaced her with Natasha, t... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Band Geeks unite in this fresh new middle-grade series by debut author (and former band director) Michelle Schusterman! The band’s bake-sale fund-raiser pits the sections against each other, and Holly is positive the brass section will win. After all, the two most competitive kids in band are Holly and Natasha. When Holly hears a rumor that Aaron Cook is going to ask her to the winter dance, s... read more
Michelle Schusterman, Genevieve Kote
Former middle-school band director Michelle Schusterman continues to celebrate the high notes and low notes of middle-school band! The band is off to New Orleans for a competition as well as a bit of sightseeing. But there is all sorts of boy treble in the band this spring. Julia has her first boyfriend, so Holly will have to keep focused to help her friends through their drama AND make sure t... read more
Michelle Schusterman
Former band director Michelle Schusterman ends her adorable series about middleschool band geeks with the perfect coda!The band has been preparing for their big regional competition all year and it's time for all of their work to pay off. On top of preparing for competition, Holly is excited to go to the Spring Dance with Owen, but is he still interested after meeting a new girl at art camp ov... read more
Ellis Byrd
The first novel in a new fiction series based on the hugely popular online game, Animal Jam, enjoyed by over 65 million users! Learn all about the origin of the Animal Jam home called Jamaa, a lush natural environment, and its brave, adventurous animal leaders called the Alphas.Welcome to Jamaa, a peaceful place full of forests, canyons, and beaches where all kinds of animals have adventures t... read more
Ellis Byrd
The third novel in a new fiction series based on the hugely popular online game, Animal Jam, enjoyed by over 65 million users! Learn all about the origin of the Animal Jam home called Jamaa, a lush natural environment, and its brave, adventurous animal leaders called the Alphas.Winter has settled over Jamaa, and the Alphas know the perfect way to celebrate: hosting the first annual Winter Game... read more
Ellis Byrd
The fourth novel in a fiction series based on Animal Jam, the popular online game enjoyed by over 65 million users! The adventures continue as the Alphas, brave animal leaders, head out on an exciting and dangerous voyage to find a hidden treasure.When an ancient treasure map is discovered deep in the Chamber of Knowledge, the Alphas set sail to uncover the mystery!But this adventure has its d... read more
Schusterman, Michelle
Schusterman, Michelle
Schusterman, Michelle
Shibutani, Alex, Shibutani, Maia, Schusterman, Michelle, Ma Van As, Yaoyao
Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani, Michelle Schusterman
From two-time Olympic bronze medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani comes a fun-filled, fast-paced middle-grade mystery set at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.Andy and Mika are going to Tokyo! The Kudo Kids have never been to Japan before, so they can't believe they get to attend the Summer Olympics there. The siblings plan to eat tons of delicious Japanese food, watch every event they can, and win a super... read more
J S, August 2022
J S, July 2022
Corrina Sinatro, June 2022
Anthony Buono, May 2022
J S, March 2022
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All-genre fiction ghostwriter of 100s of novels, book doctor and author of 11 acclaimed novels with Random House, Sourcebooks, and more!
Quakertown, PA, USA
Best-selling ghostwriter. Drop me a line about memoir, biography, crime fiction, black comedy.
Antrim, UK