Writers from Queens

Aimee Friedman (born 1979) is the author of several young adult novels published by Scholastic Inc., Point and S&S. Her novels South Beach (2004) (a New York Times bestseller), French Kiss (2005), Hollywood Hills (2007) and The Year My Sister Got Lucky (2008) focus on the scandalous adventures of on-again, off-again best friends Holly Jacobson and Alexa St. Laurent. Friedman released Sea Change on June 1, 2009. A Novel Idea (2005) is a romantic comedy about a teenager who starts a book club in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Friedman wrote one of the four stories in the holiday collection Mistletoe (2006), which also features stories by Nina Malkin, Hailey Abbott, and Melissa de la Cruz. Friedman wrote a short story, "Three Fates" for the book 21 Proms. In 2007, Friedman published, along with artist Christine Norrie, a graphic novel entitled Breaking Up which details the complicated dynamics of junior year in an arts school in New York. In 2016, she published Two Summers.Friedman grew up in Queens, New York, attended Bronx High School of Science, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2001 with a BA in English from Vassar College. She resides in Manhattan. She went to a dance school with her older sister.

William Hanley (October 22, 1931 – May 25, 2012) was an American playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter, born in Lorain, Ohio. Hanley wrote plays for the theatre, radio and television and published three novels in the 1970s. He was related to the British writers James and Gerald Hanley, and the actress Ellen Hanley was his sister.