Jake Burt

Jake Burt writes middle-grade fiction about belonging, secrecy, courage, and the unstable meanings of family. He also teaches fifth grade in Connecticut, experience that gives his school-age narrators recognizable anxieties alongside their unusual predicaments. Greetings from Witness Protection! was his debut novel. Its 2017 Feiwel and Friends edition introduced Nicki Demere, an orphan recruited to join a family in protective custody because another child can make their cover more convincing. The premise mixes comic spycraft with questions about trust, chosen family, and the cost of maintaining a false identity. The book became an Indie Next selection and later appeared on several state reading lists. Burt’s subsequent novels, including The Right Hook of Devin Velma, The Tornado, and Cleo Porter and the Body Electric, continue his interest in resourceful young people navigating systems larger than themselves. Across these stories, suspense grows from moral choices as much as from external danger.