“He had read lots of stories where heroes succeeded in spite of long odds, where they accomplished a task that everyone else had failed at. He wondered for the first time about all the people who'd gone before those heroes, about whether they'd been at each other's throats, before everything had gone wrong. He wondered if there was a point where they realized they weren't going to make it, weren't going to beat those long odds--that in the legend that would follow, they were going to be the nameless people that failed.”

American writer and editor

Holly Black is an American writer and editor known for children’s and young adult fiction. She is especially recognized for the Folk of the Air series, her most recent work, and for her long career in fantasy writing. Black is also known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, which she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and for her debut trilogy, Modern Faerie Tales. Her work has earned a Nebula Award, a Newbery Honor, and a Mythopoeic Award. The Spiderwick Chronicles was adapted into a 2008 film and a 2023 television series, which brought her a nomination for the Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Teen Series.