Reading lists and articles featuring Holly Black

Holly Black biography

Holly Black is an American author renowned for her contributions to children’s and young adult fantasy literature. Born Holly Riggenbach on November 10, 1971, in West Long Branch, New Jersey, she grew up in a Victorian house filled with books and oddities. Black earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994 and worked as a production editor for medical journals while attending Rutgers University.

Black’s literary career began with the publication of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale in 2002, marking the start of her Modern Faerie Tales trilogy, which includes Valiant (2005) and Ironside (2007). Valiant received the inaugural Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

In collaboration with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, Black co-created The Spiderwick Chronicles, a five-book series launched in 2003. The series achieved significant success, leading to a 2008 film adaptation and a 2024 television series.

Black continued to explore fantasy themes in her standalone novels, such as The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (2013) and The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015). Her middle-grade novel Doll Bones (2013) earned a Newbery Honor and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature.

From 2014 to 2018, Black co-authored the five-book Magisterium series with Cassandra Clare. She further expanded her repertoire with The Folk of the Air series, beginning with The Cruel Prince in 2018, followed by The Wicked King (2019), The Queen of Nothing (2019), and companion works. This series was succeeded by the Stolen Heir duology: The Stolen Heir (2023) and The Prisoner’s Throne (2024).

In 2022, Black made her adult fiction debut with Book of Night, the first installment of the Charlatan duology, with the sequel, Thief of Night, slated for release in 2025.

Black’s work has been translated into over 30 languages and has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide. She has received numerous accolades, including a Nebula Award, a Newbery Honor, and the Mythopoeic Award. Her stories are widely utilized in educational settings to engage young readers with themes of magic, identity, and resilience.