Susan Metallo is a neurodivergent youth librarian and author of the YA novel Reasons to Hate Me, which has won several awards, including the 2022 SCBWI YA Work-in-Progress Award, and will be published by Candlewick in the Fall of 2025. Her work has been recognized by the Tallahassee Writers’ Association, Book Pipeline, and the Searchlight Writing for Children Awards; and published in Ladybug and Cricket magazines and The Seven Hills Review. She lives in New Mexico with her husband, her children, and an 85-lb. bulldog who fervently believes she will fit on your lap.