Jack Gantos is an accomplished American author of children's books, best known for his portrayal of characters such as Joey Pigza, Rotten Ralph, Jack Henry, and others. Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, to a construction superintendent father and a banker mother. The seeds for his writing career were sown in sixth grade when he decided he could write better than his sister after reading her diary. Raised in Barbados and South Florida, Gantos began collecting anecdotes in grade school, which he later turned into stories.
After high school, Gantos moved to St. Croix and trained as a builder, but soon realized that construction was not his forte. While in St. Croix, he met a drug smuggler and was offered a chance to make 10,000 dollars by sailing to New York with 2,000 pounds of hash. However, the trip ended with the FBI bursting in on him, and Gantos was sentenced to six years in prison. While in prison, he applied to college, was accepted, and began his writing career. He received his BFA and his MA both from Emerson College.
Gantos is the author of over fifty books for children, including the ROTTEN RALPH picture books, collections of JACK HENRY short stories, upper elementary and middle school JOEY PIGZA novels, and young adult novels such as DESIRE LINES and LOVE CURSE OF THE RUMBAUGHS. His work has received numerous awards, including the Newbery, the Newbery Honor, the Scott O'Dell Award, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award. Gantos now spends his time writing and is an active speaker at book and literacy conferences, schools, and libraries. He currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife and daughter.