T R Simon

Tanya McKinnon is a children’s book author. Her novel, Zora and Me, co-written with Victoria Bond, won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent and was nominated for an Edgar Award in the category of Juvenile Fiction. Zora and Me was also a Junior Library Guild Selection, ABC New Voices Selection, SIBA Okra Award Winner, Fall Indie Next Top Ten Pick, Kirkus Best of 2010 Children's Books, Booklist 2010 Editor's Choice, The New York Public Library 2010 list of 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, the Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award, and a 2014 World Book Night U.S. pick. She is also the co-author with her husband, Richard Simon, of Oskar And The Eight Blessings, winner of the National Jewish Book Award for children's literature and named a 2015 best children's book by the Miami Herald, a Jewish Telegraph Agency's 5 Best Books for Hanukkah in 2015, a Junior Library Guild 2015 picture book selection. Her latest book, Zora and Me: The Cursed Ground, has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Horn Books, and Shelf Awareness.  

Tanya McKinnon holds an M.A. in cultural anthropology and is an adjunct lecturer at the City University of New York Publishing Certificate Program where she teaches a course on children’s book publishing.  She and her husband live in Westchester County, New York with their daughter, and very cuddly dog.