Maddie Frost's Debut Middle Grade Novel coming June 2nd 2026 (US)

Maddie illustrated her first picture book in college after winning a MassArt student contest. Although she majored in animation, this initial contest ignited a passion for children's books. After graduating, she continued taking on small illustration projects while working a variety of jobs and searching for the right creative path.

In 2015, feeling stuck with her teaching career, Maddie decided to take a leap and pursue children’s books seriously as an illustrator. After months of building her portfolio and finding the right agent, she received her first professional illustration offer in early 2016. What began as a side experiment began gaining momentum project by project.

From there, Maddie’s career grew steadily, one opportunity at a time. She transitioned from exclusively an illustrator to working as a both an author/illustrator for her own books. Maddie wanted to try new things with her skills as a writer which led to expanding into graphic and middle grade novels.

While her success may appear sudden to some, it is the result of years of dedication, rejection, and growth. Maddie's natural creative instinct is to continually turn her creative ideas into new characters and stories. This process starts with developing these ideas for herself and her own heart. Luckily many have become published works that you know and love today, and have received multiple starred reviews and a Bologna Ragazzi award.​

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Follow Maddie to see what's new and where she shares more of her process!

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