Ilene Cooper

Cooper began her career as a children's librarian at the Winnetka Public Library.^[3] She is the children's books editor at the book review magazine Booklist.^[4][2] She has also written numerous children's books about feminism and politics.^[3]

In the mid-2000s, John Green was working at Booklist, where he was mentored by Cooper, when his book Looking for Alaska won the Michael L. Printz Award.^[5] During this time, Green gave a draft copy of Looking for Alaska to Cooper, before the book was published; Cooper later recalled that after reading this draft, she thought that "He had a voice you could tell was quite original," and decided she would work with him. She has also described herself as Green's "fairy godmother".^[6]

In 2002–2003, Cooper won a National Jewish Book Award in the Children Literature category for Jewish Holidays All Year Round.^[7] In 2007, she won the Illinois Reading Council Prairie State Award for Excellence in Writing for Children.^[2][8]

• Official website