About Marie

Marie Lamba is author of acclaimed young adult novels, and of the picture book Green Green: A Community Gardening Story (co-authored with her husband Baldev Lamba),  illustrated by Sonia Sanchez (Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan 2017).  Shelfawareness calls Green Green, “pure inspiration,” and the book is a 2017 Best in Rhyme Award nominee. Her newest picture book, A Day So Gray, illustrated by Alea Marley, is out through Clarion Books (2019). Shelfawareness says A Day So Gray is “enchanting” and “ethereal.”

Marie’s most recent YA is Drawn about a teen artist who starts channeling a very attractive Medieval ghost with a very dangerous past. This Outlander-like novel has garnered rave reviews, including being named a Top Pick at Night Owl Reviews, who called it, “a fantastic romantic and tender story that will continue to enchant readers for years to come.”

Marie’s contemporary YA Over My Head, about a teen who puts her heart on the line for a college-aged lifeguard, is also widely praised.  New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry calls Over My Head, “a funny, touching, and at times heart-breaking Young Adult novel about the search for love.”

Marie’s humorous YA novel What I Meant… (Random House) was dubbed “an impressive debut” by Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal hailed What I Meant… and its mainstream story about a biracial teen, saying, “The teen’s family life and struggles will resonate with readers of all backgrounds…leaving readers wanting more.”

Her essay “The View from the Outside,” appears in the anthology Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering. And her short story “What I Did…” is in the fiction anthology Liar Liar!   More than 100 of Marie’s articles have been published in regional and national magazines, and she’s a frequent contributor to Writer’s Digest magazine.

Marie is a full-time writer, mom and silly person, who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two daughters, and one rather too interesting poodle. She is also a Senior Literary Agent with the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. Marie’s a frequent speaker at schools, libraries and conferences, and if you are interested in booking her for an event, you can get more info about this on her Appearances page.

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