Cynthia C. DeFelice

Cynthia C. DeFelice produced more than thirty books for young readers, spanning middle-grade novels, mysteries, picture books, and folktale retellings. Born in Philadelphia, she later lived in Geneva, New York, where her jobs included bookselling, storytelling, school librarianship, and barn painting. Fort, first issued by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2015, follows Wyatt and Augie through a summer centered on the woodland shelter they build together. When older boys damage the fort and target another child, the friends plan a response that forces them to reconsider revenge, loyalty, and courage. The book belongs to DeFelice's realistic middle-grade work rather than her Ghost Mysteries sequence, though both branches of her writing give young protagonists difficult choices. Her books received state reading-list honors, Edgar recognition, and selections from the American Library Association and Bank Street. Fort shows her characteristic attention to friendship, outdoor adventure, humor, and the moral complications of standing up for someone else.