Creature from the 7th Grade : Boy or Beast (9781101591833) (16 page)

Lee Salem

BOB BALABAN
is the author of the popular McGrowl series. He was inspired to write
The Creature from the Seventh Grade
because when he was twelve he was something of a creature himself. As he puts it: “I was the shortest, skinniest kid in my class. I wore braces and big black glasses with Coke-bottle thick lenses, and my hobbies were making dioramas and learning Irish folk dances. I didn't have scales and an eight-foot tail, but I might as well have.”

When he is not writing children's books, Bob acts, directs, and produces. He produced and costarred in the Academy Award–winning movie
Gosford Park
and has been nominated for a few Emmys, some Screen Actors Guild awards, four Golden Globes, and a Tony award. He has appeared in nearly a hundred movies.

Bob is happy to call Bridgehampton, New York, his home.

Jennifer Rash

ANDY RASH

(www.rashworks.com) has illustrated many books by fine authors like Mr. Balaban, and has also written and illustrated several books of his own, including Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story  and Are You a Horse? His award-winning illustration work has appeared in Fortune, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired, among others. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife and son.