Maureen Johnson is the popular author of young adult novels that are known for their vivid descriptions of characters, places and situations. Beginning with her first book, The Key to the Golden Firebird published in 2004, this has been reflected in the long list of stories for teens that followed, including The Name of the Star in 2011. Among her other book credits are The Bermudez Triangle, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Devilish, Girl at Sea, Suite Scarlett and The Last Little Blue Envelope.

The trilogy Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances written with John Green and Lauren Myracle became a New York Times Best Seller. Her writing also includes stories in anthologies and essays. She was a script writer for Nintendo DS and PSP versions of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game.

13 Little Blue Envelopes was included in the American Library Association 2006 ALA Teen's Top Ten and Devilish was a nominee for the 2007 Andre Norton Award.

As a youngster, reading books was more important to Johnson than playing sports, which led to her interest in becoming a writer. She is a graduate of University of Delaware and received a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Columbia University. Her real life experiences prior to becoming an author of books for teenagers were as a literary manager of a Philadelphia theater company, a waitress in a theme restaurant, a secretary, a bartender at Piccadilly Circus, working alongside live tigers in Las Vegas and as a performer.

Johnson currently lives in New York and often travels between that city and London. When Johnson is not writing she raises funds for charities to aid victims of natural disasters through organizations like the American Red Cross.