Harry Mazer was born on May 31, 1925 in New York City. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Force and received a Purple Heart and an Air Medal with four bronze oak leaf clusters. He received a B.A. from Union College in 1948 and a M.A. in education from Syracuse University in 1960. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was as a welder in a factory, a railroad brakeman and switchtender for New York Central, and an English teacher. He has written more than 20 books for young readers including Please, Somebody Tell Me Who I Am; My Brother Abe; The Last Mission; The Boy at War trilogy; The Wild Kid; The Dog in the Freezer; The Island Keeper; and Snow Bound. He along with his wife, Norma Fox Mazer, received an ALAN award in 2003 for outstanding contribution to adolescent literature. He died on April 7, 2016 at the age of 90. (Bowker Author Biography)