Skip to main content
Jennifer Holm

Jennifer Holm

Jennifer Holm has always loved reading. She recalls this: “One of our neighbors said that his clearest memory of me as a child was watching me rake the lawn one-handed while I read a book with the other!” Holm has co-authored a series of graphic novels featuring a mouse (Babymouse) and an amoeba (Squish) and created a feline version of James Bond (The Stink Files). She has also published several Newbery Honor-winning historical fiction novels for middle grade readers inspired by stories from her own family.


Holm grew up in Audubon, Pennsylvania with four brothers  — including her co-author Matt Holm. After college, Holm worked briefly in television although she was always interested in writing. Our Only May Amelia, the story of a 12-year-old girl living in the late 19th century (inspired by a diary written by her great aunt) became her first published novel and was a 2000 Newbery Honor Book. She received a second Newbery Honor in 2011 for Turtle in Paradise, a story set in the Great Depression in Key West, Florida. With her brother Matt, she created two popular graphic novel series — Babymouse and Squish (an amoeba).

Holm has also collaborated with her husband, Jonathan Hamel, to create the “Stink Files” series featuring a British super-spy, who also happens to be a cat. Holm currently lives in California with Hamel and their two children.

Learn more at Jennifer Holm’s official website.

Books by this author

Babymouse #1: Queen of the World

Babymouse #1: Queen of the World

Jennifer Holm
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Fiction
Published:
2005
full of beans

Full of Beans

Jennifer Holm
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2016
Our Only May Amelia

Our Only May Amelia

Jennifer Holm
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
1999
Penny from Heaven

Penny from Heaven

Jennifer Holm
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2006
sunny

Sunny Side Up

Jennifer Holm, Matthew Holm
Published:
2015
Swing it, Sunny

Swing it, Sunny

Jennifer Holm
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Fiction
Published:
2017
The Fourteenth Goldfish

The Fourteenth Goldfish

Jennifer Holm
Genre:
Fantasy, Science fiction / Dystopian
Published:
2014

The Third Mushroom

Jennifer Holm

Turtle in Paradise

Jennifer Holm

Books by this illustrator

Expert Q&A Questions

Articles by this author

Latest Blog Posts