Susan Coolidge was the pseudonym for Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who was born in 1835 into a wealthy and influential family in Cleveland, Ohio. She worked as a nurse during the American Civil War before establishing a career as a successful and prolific writer of novels, short stories, and poems. Her most famous book, What Katy Did, was inspired by her own childhood growing up in a large family with younger siblings. Its publication in 1872 was followed by four sequels. She never married and lived most of her adult life in Rhode Island where she died in 1905. Addie Ledyard illustrated many books throughout her lifetime, including the works of Susan Coolidge, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Louisa May Alcott. Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain's bestselling and most beloved children's authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold. As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children's Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former UK Children's Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire.