Rachel Hartman is a highly acclaimed American author, best known for her young adult fantasy books. She has gained significant recognition for her Seraphina and Tess of the Road series. Hartman was born in Kentucky, but her family moved around frequently during her childhood, causing her to live in various places including Lexington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Kentucky, St. Louis, Japan, and England. She eventually settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she currently resides with her husband and son.
Hartman's debut novel, Seraphina, was published by Random House in 2012 and was an instant success. The book won numerous awards, including the William C. Morris Award in 2013 for being the best young adult novel published in the United States by a debut author, and the Cybils Award in 2012 for the best science fiction or young adult fantasy book. The second book in the Seraphina series, Shadow Scale, was featured in the New York Times Best Seller List for being the best young adult novel in its first week of eligibility.
Hartman's writing has been praised by several notable authors, including Naomi Novik, Tamora Pierce, and Ellen Kushner. Novik described Seraphina as "a book worth hoarding, as glittering and silver-bright as dragon scales, with a heroine who insists on carving herself a place in your mind." Pierce commended Seraphina for being "strong, complex, talented — she makes mistakes and struggles to trust, with good reason, and she fights to survive in a world that would tear her apart." Kushner praised Hartman's "rich invention" and "smart and funny and original" writing style.
In addition to her writing, Hartman is also an artist of comics and enjoys playing role-playing games, reading, and playing the cello in her free time. She currently lives in Vancouver, Canada, with her family and her next novel, Tess of the Road was released in 2018.