ALAN GRATZ was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, he began a succession of jobs--newsletter writer, high school teacher, university lecturer, bookseller, radio commercial writer, advertising copy writer, middle school teacher, library shelver--all the while working on various writing projects. In 2006, he published his first novel, Samurai Shortstop, an ALA 2007 Top Ten Book for Young Adults. Alan's award-winning books include The Brooklyn Nine, Fantasy Baseball, Starfleet Academy: The Assassination Game, Prisoner B-3087, and The League of Seven, the first in a series of alternate history middle grade fantasy novels. When he's not writing, he's usually reading other people's books or creating an awesome new costume for science fiction/fantasy conventions. He lives with his family in North Carolina.
