Susan Beth Pfeffer

Susan Beth Pfeffer (born February 17, 1948) is a retired American author best known for young adult science fiction. After writing for 35 years, she received wider notice for her series of post-apocalyptic novels, officially titled "The Life As We Knew It Series", but often called "The Last Survivors" or "Moon Crash" series, some of which have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Pfeffer was born in New York City, the daughter of Leo Pfeffer, a lawyer and professor, and his wife, Freda nee Plotkin, a secretary.^[1] She is the first cousin of fellow children's book author Ellen Conford.^[2] Pfeffer's family lived in Queens before moving to the suburbs of Long Island. She began writing stories as a child.

She published her first book, Just Morgan, in 1970, while she was a senior at New York University.^[3] After college, she moved to Middletown, New York, where she still lives, and continued to write full-time. She has published more than 75 books.^[4]

Pfeffer's books cover the range of children's literature from picture books to young-adult novels. They include biographies for younger readers, and both historical, such as the Portraits of Little Women series, and contemporary fiction. She also wrote a book for adults about how to write for children. About David (1980) and The Year Without Michael (1987) are two of her books that have received critical notice.^[3] Pfeffer says that she enjoys writing about family dynamics.^[5] Pfeffer achieved wider notice with her 2006 book Life as We Knew It, a bestseller. This became the first of her Moon Crash series.^[4] Pfeffer cites the film Meteor as inspiration for the Moon Crash series.^{[citation needed]}

She also wrote some short stories such as As it is with Strangers and Ashes.

Pfeffer's books have won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, the Buxtehude Bull prize and been named awarded an American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults (2007) and Teens’ Top Ten Booklist in 2007. She was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award, Quill Awards and Hal Clement Award.

• Crossen, C. (October 24, 2008). "Adviser: Dear Booklover". Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition). p. W.2. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.
• Goodnow, C. (December 18, 2008). "Profits of Doom: Teen Readers are eating up Post-Apocalyptic Tales". Seattle Post - Intelligencer. p. B.1. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from Business Dateline.
• John, G. (2008). "Scary New World". New York Times Book Review. p. 30. Retrieved via EBSCOhost database, April 6, 2010.
• "Must-Reads Blend Fright, Fun". (January 26, 2009). The Washington Post. p. B.2. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from Business Dateline.
• Springen, K. (February 2010). "Apocalypse Now". Publishers Weekly. p. 21. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.
• Woolingtons, R. (March 11, 2010). "Book Wars Come to High School. The popular reading competition opens to older students". The Register - Guard. p. L.1. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from Business Dateline.
• Young Adult Library Services Association. "Best Book for Young Adults 2007". American Library Association. Retrieved from web, April 6, 2010.
• Young Adult Library Services Association. (2007). "Teens' Top Ten Booklist". American Library Association. Retrieved from web, April 6, 2010.

• List of books (up to 2000)
• Podcast Interview with Susan Beth Pfeffer at Scripts & Scribes
• http://matsonclass.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/9/38896565/ashes_by_susan_beth_pfeffer.pdf