Jennifer L. Holm

Jennifer L. Holm (born June 16, 1968) is an American children's writer, and recipient of three Newbery Honors and the Eisner Award.

Early life and education

Holm was born in 1968 in San Diego, California. She spent her early life living on Whidbey Island on the Puget Sound in Washington state, before her family relocated to Audubon, Pennsylvania, with her four brothers. She attended Methacton High School for four years. She graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Career

After college she worked in television and later began to write. Our Only May Amelia, the story of a 12-year-old girl living in late-19th century in coastal southwestern Washington state, inspired by a diary written by her great-aunt, became her first published novel and was a 2000 Newbery Honor Book.

Holm wrote a series featuring a character named Jane Peck, a young woman living in the 1850s (Boston Jane: An Adventure, Boston Jane: Wilderness Days and Boston Jane: The Claim); The Creek, a horror thriller; Babymouse and Squish, series of graphic novels for children illustrated by her brother Matthew; and The Stink Files, a series co-written with her husband Jonathan Hamel featuring James Edward Bristlefur, a cat raised by a British secret agent who is adopted by an American family and renamed Mr. Stink after his owner is murdered.

Her story Penny from Heaven is set in the 1950s and features an 11-year-old Italian-American girl It was a 2007 Newbery Honor recipient. Turtle in Paradise, which is set in the Great Depression in Key West, Florida, was a 2011 Newbery Honor recipient. Babymouse for President won the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7).

Our Only May Amelia has been adapted for the stage by John Olive. The River Theater in Astoria, Oregon, performed it for its 2006 summer run, in conjunction with FinnFest USA '06. The events of the play (and book) were set just north of Astoria in Naselle, Washington.

Personal life

As of 2013, Holm lives in Foster City, California, with her husband and two children.

Works

Standalone novels

The Creek (2003)

Penny from Heaven (2007) - Newbery Honor

The Lion of Mars (2021)

Outside. Scholastic Press. October 7, 2025. ISBN 978-1-5461-3814-3.

The Fourteenth Goldfish series

The Fourteenth Goldfish (2014)

The Third Mushroom (2018)

Sunny series

Graphic novels, illustrated by Matthew Holm and colored by Lark Pien

Sunny Side Up (2015)

Swing it, Sunny (2017)

Sunny Rolls the Dice (2019)

Sunny Makes a Splash (2021)

Sunny Makes Her Case (2024)

Sunny Figures It Out (2025)

May Amelia series

Our Only May Amelia (1999) - Newbery Honor

The Trouble with May Amelia (2011), illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Our Only May Amelia can be found in the Newbery Great Girls Boxed Set (1999) along with three other Newbery Winners.

Boston Jane novel series

Boston Jane: An Adventure (2001)

Wilderness Days (2002)

The Claim (2004)

Key West series

Turtle in Paradise (2010) - Newbery Honor

Full of Beans (2016) - a prequel from the perspective of Turtle's cousin, Beans.

Ginny Davis series

Illustrated by Elicia Castaldi

Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff (2007)

Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick: Ginny Davis's Year In Stuff (2012)

The Stink Files series

In collaboration with Jonathan Hamel, illustrated by Brad Weinman

The Stink Files, Dossier 001: The Postman Always Brings Mice (2004)

The Stink Files, Dossier 002: To Scratch a Thief (2004)

The Stink Files, Dossier 003: You Only Have Nine Lives (2005)

Babymouse series

Graphic novels, in collaboration with Matthew Holm

Queen of the World! (2005)

Our Hero (2005)

Beach Babe (2006)

Rock Star (2006)

Heartbreaker (2006)

Camp Babymouse (2007)

Skater Girl (2007)

Puppy Love (2007)

Monster Mash (2008)

Babymouse: The Musical (2009)

Dragonslayer (2009)

Babymouse Burns Rubber (2010)

Cupcake Tycoon (2010)

Mad Scientist (2011)

A Very Babymouse Christmas (2011)

Babymouse for President (2012)

Extreme Babymouse (2013)

Happy Birthday, Babymouse (2014)

Bad Babysitter (2015)

Babymouse Goes for the Gold (2016)

Compilations:

Babymouse Collection Books 1–13

Babymouse Tales From the Locker series

Illustrated by Matthew Holm

Lights, Camera, Middle School! (July 4, 2017), ISBN 978-0399554384

Miss Communication (July 24, 2018), ISBN 978-0399554414

School-Tripped (July 29, 2019), ISBN 978-0399554452

Little Babymouse

Picture book, illustrated by Matthew Holm

Little Babymouse and the Christmas Cupcakes (October 24, 2016), ISBN 978-1101937433

Squish series

Graphic novels, in collaboration with Matthew Holm

Squish: Super Ameoba (2011)

Squish: Brave New Pond (2011)

Squish: The Power Of The Parasite (2012)

Squish: Captain Disaster (2012)

Squish: Game On! (2013)

Squish: Fear the Amoeba (2014)

Squish: Deadly Disease of Doom (2015)

Squish: Pod vs. Pod (2016)

My First Comics

Illustrated by Matthew Holm

I'm Grumpy (2016)

I'm Sunny (2016)

I'm Silly (2017)

I'm Scared (2017)

I'm Cheese

Comic book anthologies

Comics Squad: Recess! (2014) Edited by Jennifer L. Holm

"The Super-Secret Ninja Club" by Gene Luen Yang

"Book 'Em, Dog Man!" by Dav Pilkey

"Betty and the Perilous Pizza Day" by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

"The Magic Acorn" by Ursula Vernon

"Babymouse: The Quest for Recess" by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

"Jiminy Sprinkles in 'Freeze Tag'" by Eric Wight

"300 Words" by Dan Santat

"The Rainy Day Monitor" by Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman

Comics Squad #2: Lunch! (2016) Edited by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

"Crazy Little Thing Called Lunch!" by Cece Bell

"Snoopy in...Lunchtime Beagle" by Peanuts

"Babymouse: Lunch Table Champion" by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

"The Case of the Missing Science Project" by Jason Shiga

"Pikput & Cullen in...Worst Day Ever!" by Cecil Castellucci and Sara Varon

"Lucy & Andy Neanderthal: Cave Soup" by Jeffrey Brown

"Lunch Bomb 1943" by Nathan Hale

"Lunch Girl and the Ominous Origin" by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Comics Squad #3: Detention! (2017) Edited by Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Anthology contributions

Shelf Life: Stories by the Book (2003), edited by Gary Paulsen

Contains "Follow the Water" by Jennifer L. Holm

Friends: Stories about New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True Friends (2005)

Contains "My Best Friend" by Jennifer L. Holm

Book introductions

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery (originally published 1909) - Introduction

Too Much Information by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes (2012) - Foreword

Selected awards and honors

Newbery Honor Awards

2000 for Our Only May Amelia