Lesley Kagen

State: Wisconsin

A native of Milwaukee, Lesley Kagen is a national bestselling novelist whose emotionally rich stories are often narrated through children’s perspectives. Her debut, Whistling in the Dark (2007), became a New York Times bestseller. Set in mid‑20th‑century Wisconsin, her novels such as Good Graces and Tomorrow River skillfully evoke the voice and worldview of young narrators grappling with loss, family secrets, and the splitting divide between childhood innocence and adult uncertainty. Kagen’s writing is praised for capturing the honesty and emotional complexity of young observers in family dramas. With richly drawn settings of suburban Milwaukee in the 1950s and 1960s, her work bridges literary fiction and historical domestic storytelling, resonating with both adult and older-teen readers.

Genres: Contemporary, Historical Fiction

Audiences: Adult, Young Adult