I’ve ridden an elephant, swallowed fried grasshoppers, lived on a commune, flown a hangglider (and crashed), picked coffee beans and fed them to a monkey, peered into a live volcano, watched my toddler soar around a big top in the arms of a Mexican trapeze artist dressed as Spiderman, swum through a pitch-black cave to a tiny and perfect hidden beach, milked goats, skied in the Alps (and crashed), hiked up a glacier and alarmed a moose, torn down a barn, gone to a “sit-up” (a Jamaican wake), hung out with Cambodian monks, pedaled across the Blue Ridge Mountains in a homemade superhero cape, driven a hundred-year-old car (and DIDN'T crash!), woven lots of hammocks, snaked a drain, gazed upon The Garden of Earthly Delights, and danced till dawn. Mostly, though, I spend a lot of time at the computer. In pajamas.

Official-sounding bio

Mara Rockliff is the author of many lively historical books for children, including Around America to Win the Vote and Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France, winner of the Cook Prize and an Orbis Pictus Honor book. 

In 2022, her new books are Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott and A Perfect Fit: How Lena "Lane" Bryant Changed the Shape of Fashion. Other well-known titles include Chik Chak Shabbat and Gingerbread for Liberty! (an ALA Notable Children's Book and winner of two state awards, the Garden State Children's Book Award and Land of Enchantment Book Award). Under the pen name Lewis B. Montgomery, she wrote all twelve books in the popular Milo & Jazz Mysteries chapter book series, which has been translated into Spanish, French, and Chinese. 

Rockliff's public speaking experience includes TV and radio as well as bookstores, libraries, schools, children's museums, writing workshops, book festivals, and state and national conferences for teachers and librarians. She lives in western Massachusetts with her family. Visit her online at mararockliff.com.

Interviews, guest posts, etc. (most recent first)

• An interview with Mara Rockliff (The Food Section Remix podcast, about Sweet Justice)
• Georgia Gilmore: Southern cook and activist is subject of new storybook (Good Food podcast)
• Just Try It: An Interview with Mara Rockliff
• Q&A with Mara Rockliff (about Jefferson Measures a Moose)
• Picture Books and Primary Sources: Interview with Mara Rockliff, Author of Jefferson Measures a Moose
• Nerdy Book Club: Rescuing Our Heroines by Mara Rockliff
• Nerdy Book Club: Learning How Language Works by Mara Rockliff
• Mining for Heart: “Knowing When to Stop” by Mara Rockliff
• Q&A with Mara Rockliff (about Born to Swing and Lights! Camera! Alice!)
• Celebrate Science: Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep
• Q&A with Mara Rockliff (about Around America to Win the Vote and Anything but Ordinary Addie)
• Teachers Write: Evaluating the Reliability of Research Sources
• A Conversation with Mara Rockliff
• Mara Rockliff & Iacopo Bruno: Contrasting the Factual and the Fanciful (Shelf Awareness Maximum Shelf feature—scroll past review to see the interview)
• Jama's Alphabet Soup: Mara Rockliff on Gingerbread for Liberty!
• Publishers Weekly: 'Gingerbread for Liberty' Serves Up Slice of Revolutionary History
• Jewish Picture Books for Kids: Welcome Mara Rockliff
• Mara Rockliff and Eliza Wheeler: The Making of The Grudge Keeper
• Watch. Connect. Read. Author Mara Rockliff
• The Work of a Community: Mara Rockliff Interview
• Cynsations Guest Post: Mara Rockliff on Writing the Longer Picture Book
• A Peek at the Creative Space of Mara Rockliff
• Quickie Interview: Mara Rockliff
• Interview with Get Real Author Mara Rockliff
• Author Branding - Confessions of a Brand Hater

Email me at: 

Or contact my agent, Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, at jennL@andreabrownlit.com.