Sandra Scoppettone is a highly regarded American author, best known for her contributions to the crime fiction and young adult genres. She was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1936, during a time when it was uncommon for women to make a name for themselves in the world of crime fiction. Despite this challenging environment, Scoppettone went on to become a successful writer, publishing popular novels under her own name and the pseudonym Jack Early.\n \nScoppettone began her writing career at the age of 18, after moving to New York from her native New Jersey. Her first published work was "Suzuki Beane," a novel she wrote with illustrator Louise Fitzhugh. During the 1970s, Scoppettone wrote a series of freestanding young adult novels, including "The Late Great Me," which won an Emmy Award in 1976. She came out as a lesbian in the 1970s, but it was not until the 1990s that she revealed her real name, after publishing the Lauren Laurano series of novels.
Scoppettone's crime fiction, written under the pseudonym Jack Early, gained significant recognition in the 1980s. Her novel "A Creative Kind of Killer" was shortlisted for the Shamus Award in 1984 and received an Edgar Award nomination in 1985. Throughout her long career, which spans from the early 1960s to the beginning of the millennium, Scoppettone has consistently produced popular and critically acclaimed novels in both the young adult and crime fiction genres. She currently resides in Southold, New York, with her life partner and fellow author, Linda Crawford.