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Melissa Hart

“The right book read at the right time can change a life, and that’s why Better with Books belongs in every library. Timely, compassionate, and wise, this is a remarkable reference guide.”—Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan 

Melissa Hart 

​I'm an Oregon author, journalist, and instructor for the MFA in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University. My essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Real Simple, Orion, High Country News, The Rumpus, Brevity, Woman's Day, The Advocate, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Hemispheres, and numerous other publications. 

I'm the author of The Media Adventurer's Handbook: Decoding Persuasion in Everyday News, Ads, and More (World Citizen Comics, 2022), Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens (Sasquatch, 2019), the award-winning middle-grade novel Avenging the Owl (Sky Pony, 2016), the memoir Wild Within: How Rescuing Owls Inspired a Family (Lyons, 2007), and the memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood (Seal, 2005). 

I'm a contributing editor at The Writer Magazine, and I teach frequently at writing conferences, libraries, universities, and bookstores. I live in Eugene with my husband and teen daughter, where I love to run and hike long-distance, cross country ski, kayak, cycle, cook, and roam the Pacific Northwest as an amateur naturalist.