Holm was born in 1968 in San Diego, California. She spent her early life living on Whidbey Island on the Puget Sound in Washington state,[7] before her family relocated to Audubon, Pennsylvania with her four brothers. After graduating from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, she worked in television and later began to write.[5] Our Only May Amelia, the story of a 12-year-old girl living in late-19th century in coastal southwestern Washington state, inspired by a diary written by her great aunt, became her first published novel and was a 2000 Newbery Honor Book. Holm also has written a series featuring Jane Peck, a young woman living in the 1850s (Boston Jane: An Adventure, Boston Jane: Wilderness Days and Boston Jane: The Claim); The Creek, a horror thriller; Babymouse and Squish, series of graphic novels for children illustrated by her brother Matthew; and The Stink Files, a series co-written with her husband Jonathan Hamel featuring James Edward Bristlefur, a cat raised by a British secret agent who is adopted by an American family and renamed Mr. Stink after his owner is murdered. Penny from Heaven, a story set in the 1950s featuring an 11-year-old Italian-American girl, was a 2007 Newbery Honor recipient. Turtle in Paradise, which is set in the Great Depression in Key West, Florida, was a 2011 Newbery Honor recipient. Babymouse for President won the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7).
Our Only May Amelia has been adapted for the stage by John Olive. The River Theater in Astoria, Oregon performed it for its 2006 summer run, in conjunction with FinnFest USA '06. The events of the play (and book) were set just north of Astoria in Naselle, Washington.
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