Juliana Goodman was born and raised in Blue Island, Illinois and earned her MFA from Purdue University. She has received several awards and scholarships for her writing and was a fellow with the Tulsa Artist Fellowship for four years. Her debut YA novel, The Black Girls Left Standing is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and a 2023 Edgar Award Nominee. In her free time, she enjoys watching horror films, reading the latest young adult novels and hanging out with her poodle, Darcy and her kitten, Jack-Jack.