Ilsa J. Bick is a child psychiatrist, as well as a film scholar, surgeon wannabe, former Air Force major, and an award-winning author of dozens of short stories and novels. (Believe me, no one is more surprised about that than her mother.) Her YA works include the critically acclaimed DRAW THE DARK (winner of the Westchester Fiction Award, a VOYA Perfect Ten, and Bank Street College 2011 Best Book); DROWNING INSTINCT; and the recently-released THE SIN-EATER’S CONFESSION (a 2014 YALSA BYFA).

Among many other nominations and awards, ASHES, the first book in her YA apocalyptic thriller trilogy, was a 2011 VOYA Perfect Ten, 2012 YALSA Top Ten Teen Nominee, 2012 YALSA Best Fiction Nominee, and 2012 Outstanding Book by a Wisconsin Author. ASHES is currently a 2013 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers Finalist, 2013 TAYSHAS High School Reading List, 2013-2014 Gateway Award Final Nominee, 2014 Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award Nominee, and 2014 Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award Nominee.

SHADOWS, the second book in the trilogy, hit shelves in 2012, and MONSTERS, the final volume, was released this past September, earning starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus.

WHITE SPACE, Book I in the Dark Passages series, a psychological horror/sf YA thriller has been called a “freaking head trip,” and that sounds about right. Think The Matrix and Inception meet Inkheart with a vengeance. The sequel, THE DICKENS MIRROR, will appear in 2015.

Ilsa lives with her very tolerant family and other furry creatures near a Hebrew cemetery in rural Wisconsin. One thing she loves about the neighbors: They’re very quiet and only come around for sugar once in a blue moon.