Amy Alznauer

Amy Alznauer is the recipient of the Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction and the Christopher Award, and her book The Strange Birds of Flannery O'Connor: a Life (illustrated by Ping Zhu, Enchanted Lion) was chosen as a New York Times Top 25 Children’s Book of 2020. 

Her book The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity: A Tale of the Genius Ramanujan (illustrated by Daniel Miyares, Candlewick, 2020) was a Booklist Top Ten Biography and a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best. The New York Times wrote of her book Flying Paintings, The Zhou Brothers: A Story of Revolution and Art (illustrated by the Zhou Brothers, Candlewick, 2020) that it “will appeal to children in the same way that a soul-stirring melody sung by a loving parent can bring a baby to tears.” Amy was also one of the curators for the recent Emory University exhibition At the Crossroads: with Benny Andrews, Flannery O'Connor, and Alice Walker, and she teaches mathematics at Northwestern University.

Her picture book biography The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape (illustrated by Anna Bron, Candlewick Press, 2025) also brings the math and writing sides of her life together.

Looking to the future, Amy has signed a two-book middle-grade novel deal with Taylor Norman at Neal Porter Books.

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