Phillip Hoose

Phillip Hoose writes nonfiction about history, sports and nature, much of it for young readers. He grew up in Speedway, Indiana, and spent 37 years working for The Nature Conservancy, an interest in the natural world he also pursued at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is also a songwriter and performing musician, and he divides his time between Portland, Maine, and New Orleans.

His books include Hoosiers: The Fabulous Basketball Life of Indiana (1986), the picture book Hey, Little Ant (1996) and We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History (2001), a National Book Award finalist. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (2009) won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and received Newbery and Sibert Honors. Moonbird (2012), the story of a long-lived shorebird, and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler (2015) both received Sibert Honors.

His work often spotlights young people who changed history and the wild creatures that depend on human care.