Karen holds a BA in Journalism from Indiana University and a MA in English literature from DePaul University. While working on her doctorate in English literature at New York University (where she is ABD), she taught undergraduate composition classes. She’s the author of three middle grade novels, TALL TALES, NO CREAM PUFFS and A MILLION MILES FROM BOSTON, all with Random House. These novels have been included in Bank Street College Educator’s Best of Books of the Year, and TALL TALES was named to the Texas Library Association Bluebonnet Master Reading List.

I’LL STAY, her first novel for adults, was a Publisher’s Weekly Pick of the Week (starred review) and a Publishers Marketplace Buzz Book. 

Her short story, “The Cellar,” won the Arts & Letters Fiction Prize in 2021.

“Prodigies,” was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Annual Story Foundation Prize for fiction. 

Karen has three children and lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with her husband.