Melissa Hart

​

  Coming in September 2022--DAISY WOODWORM CHANGES THE WORLD,

my new middle-grade novel published​  by Jolly Fish Press! 

​  When 13-year-old amateur entomologist Daisy gets an assignment to “change the world,” she’s       

  determined to help her older brother, Sorrel—who has Down syndrome and adores men’s fashion—fulfill

  his dream of becoming a YouTube celebrity. The catch? If their overprotective parents find out, Daisy   

  won’t be able to change anything.

​

Melissa Hart 

​I'm an Oregon-based 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, CNN, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Real Simple, Orion, High Country News, The Rumpus, Brevity, Woman's Day, The Advocate, Parents, 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 grew up near Los Angeles with my younger brother, who has Down syndrome. 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.