Beck McDowell, young adult author, is a former middle and high school AP English teacher who lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband, David. Her adult children, Emily and Drew live there, too. She and her students built notrequiredreading.com to help teens find good books. She hates routine; her writing habits are weird and varied. She loves fast-paced books with lots of dialogue and lean prose. She also loves chatting with her fabulous former students.