Ann M. Martin

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955, in Princeton, New Jersey. Her mother, Eden Martin, was a preschool teacher, and her father, Henry Martin, was a cartoonist for ‘The New Yorker.’ Martin developed an interest in writing at an early age, dictating stories to her mother before she could write. Her elementary school teachers recognized her passion for writing, noting her dedication to crafting stories in notebooks. She pursued her education at Smith College from 1973 to 1977, where she studied early-childhood education and child psychology, with her senior thesis focusing on children’s literature in the classroom. Her time at Smith College influenced her perspective as a feminist and her commitment to portraying strong female characters in her work. After graduating, Martin spent a year teaching a split fourth and fifth-grade class at Plumfield School in Noroton, Connecticut, where she worked with students facing learning disabilities; this experience later influenced her writing.

Martin transitioned into publishing, working her way from an editorial assistant to a senior editor at prominent children’s book publishers, including Pocket Books and Scholastic. In 1983, she published her first book, “Bummer Summer,” which received the Children’s Choice Award in 1985. A significant turning point in her career occurred in 1985 when she began writing “The Baby-Sitters Club” series while still working at Scholastic. The series achieved widespread popularity, with Martin authoring the first 35 novels before ghostwriters continued the series. In 1990, Martin co-founded “The Lisa Libraries” to provide new books to children in underserved areas, and she also established the Ann M. Martin Foundation to support art, education, literacy, and animal welfare programs. She continues to write, focusing on standalone novels often set in the 1960s.

Her contributions to literature have been recognized with several awards. Her novel “A Corner of the Universe” received a Newbery Honor in 2003. In 2015, she was awarded the Josette Frank Award for “Rain Reign” by the Children’s Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education. Many of her books, including “Here Today,” “Friends,” “A Dog’s Life,” “Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far),” and “Better to Wish,” have been listed on the Committee’s Best Children’s Book of the Year with Outstanding Merit. Martin also served as a producer for the 2020 Netflix adaptation of “The Baby-Sitters Club,” further solidifying her legacy in children’s media.