Lois Metzger was born in Queens, New York City. Three of her five young-adult novels take place in Belle Heights, an invented Queens neighborhood that is boring on purpose to stand in stark contrast to the dramatic life of her characters. She has also written two nonfiction books about the Holocaust, and has edited five anthologies of original short stories. She lives near Washington Square Park in New York with her husband, son, and a tuxedo cat. Someone once told her that black-and-white cats were the best, which she thought made no sense. Now she's a believer.