About

Kody Keplinger is the New York Times bestselling author of several young adult and middle grade novels. She wrote her debut, The DUFF (2010), when she was a senior in high school. It was named a YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers, and it later went on to be adapted into a feature film of the same title starring Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Allison Janney, and Ken Jeong. Kody’s other works include Shut Out (2011), A Midsummer’s Nightmare (2012), The Swift Boys & Me (2014), Lying Out Loud (2015), Run (2016), That’s Not What Happened (2018), Lila & Hadley (2020), and the graphic novel, Poison Ivy: Thorns (2021) with illustrator Sara Kipin. Her next novel, Where Lost Girls Go will be released in the summer of 2026.

Kody was born and raised in rural western Kentucky. She has been legally blind since birth and is passionate about the representation of disability in the media. She is also a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community. She frequently includes both queer and disabled characters in her work. Since 2013 she has been teaching writing classes with Gotham Writers’ Workshops, where she hopes to guide and inspire others along their writing journeys.

When not writing, you can find Kody playing Dungeons & Dragons, reading tarot cards for herself and her friends, re-watching Parks & Recreation for the hundredth time, or listening to podcasts about reality shows she doesn’t even watch. She currently lives in Rochester, NY with her Bernese Mountain Dog, Emmett, and her senior black cats, Bettie and James.