Maria is an author of young adult novels as well as a freelance writer and essayist. Her first novel, Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress (Knopf, 2008) was selected by the American Library Association as one of the Best Books for Young Adults 2009, and received the 2009 Maine Literary Award for Childrens Literature from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance as well as a Lupine Honor Award from the Maine Library Association.She lives with her husband, two teenage children, and their Australian Shepherd, in Brunswick, Maine.