“Mama, Mama, help me get homeI'm out in the woods, I am out on my own.I found me a werewolf, a nasty old muttIt showed me its teeth and went straight for my gut.Mama, Mama, help me get homeI'm out in the woods, I am out on my own.I was stopped by a vampire, a rotting old wreckIt showed me its teeth and went straight for my neck.Mama, Mama, put me to bedI won't make it home, I'm already half-dead.I met an Invalid, and fell for his artHe showed me his smile, and went straight for my heart.-From "A Child's Walk Home," Nursery Rhymes and Folk Tales”

American author, young adult and middle-grade fiction

Lauren Oliver is an American author of young adult and middle-grade fiction. She is known for novels including Before I Fall, Panic, and the Delirium trilogy, and for the range of her work across several age groups. Before I Fall was adapted into a major motion picture in 2017, and Panic was later developed as a series by Amazon Studios, where Oliver served as creator, writer, and showrunner. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages, and she was a 2012 nominee for the E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Liesl & Po. She also wrote the middle-grade fantasy novel The Spindlers.