Joan Bauer is an American author. She was born on July 12, 1951 in River Forest, Illinois. She was the oldest of four sisters with a teacher for a mother and a salesman for a father. In her teen years, her grandmother got Alzheimer's disease. Soon after this, her father committed suicide. Bauer said her teenage experiences influenced her stories. As a teen, Bauer was a waitress, an assistant, typing teacher, and a freelance writer. Bauer currently lives in Brooklyn, with her husband Evan Bauer, her daughter Jean, and dog Max. She’s working on another book, which is due to be published in early 2016.