Courtney Sheinmel (born 1977 in Palo Alto, California) is the author of over a dozen books for kids and teens. She lives in New York City. Biography Courtney has one sister, the young adult writer Alyssa Sheinmel, and three stepsiblings. She graduated with honors from Barnard College (part of Columbia University), and Fordham School of Law. Courtney spent several years as a law firm associate, and on the weekends, she worked on what became her first middle grade novel, My So-Called Family (2008), which was praised for its heartfelt and insightful portrayal of what makes a family. Upon its publication, Courtney left the practice of law and began writing full-time. The protagonist of her second novel, Positively (2009), was a teenager living with HIV, inspired by Courtney's own longtime involvement with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Courtney continued to delve into unique and sometimes difficult family situations in books like All the Things You Are (2011) and Edgewater (2015). She is also the author of the young readers series Stella Batts, the middle grade series The Kindness Club, and co-author of the emerging reader series Agnes & Clarabelle. In addition to writing, Courtney served as a judge on the national level for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and she received a National Scholastic Outstanding Educator Award for her work as a writing instructor at Writopia Lab, a non-profit organization serving kids ages 8–18. Bibliography My So-Called Family 2008 Positively 2009 Sincerely 2010 All the Things You Are 2011 Stella Batts Needs a New Name 2012 Stella Batts: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow 2012 Stella Batts: Pardon Me 2012 Stella Batts: A Case of the Meanies 2012 Stella Batts: Who's in Charge? 2013 Stella Batts: Something Blue 2014 Stella Batts: None of Your Beeswax 2014 Stella Batts: Superstar 2015 Edgewater 2015 Zacktastic 2015 Stella Batts: Scaredy Cat 2016 The Kindness Club: Chloe on the Bright Side 2016 Stella Batts: Broken Birthday 2017 Agnes & Clarabelle (co-written with Adele Griffin) 2017 Agnes & Clarabelle Celebrate! (co-written with Adele Griffin) 2017 References External links Website: http://courtneysheinmel.com/ Stella Batts website: http://www.stellabatts.com/splash/splash.html Barnard College alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni 1977 births Living people American children's writers Writers from Palo Alto, California New York (state) lawyers