Leanne Lieberman doesn’t avoid hard subjects, even when writing for a younger audience. Her first young adult novel, Gravity, introduced a distinctly unorthodox Jewish teenager faced with the choice of denying her sexuality or losing her community. It was a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and made the 2009 Rainbow List. The Book of Trees deals with the emotionally charged topic of Israeli/Palestinian relations. Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust, the story of a teenage girl whose father is a Holocaust historian who totes the family to Holocaust memorials on summer vacations, was a Sydney Taylor Notable and Bank Street Best Book. Her adult fiction has been published in New Quarterly, Descant, Fireweed, the Antigonish Review and Grain.

Her most recent YA novel, Cleaning Up centres on a young girl who finds a secret diary and imagines what it would be like to seemingly have everything. “Jess is a YA heroine for the real world, navigating issues of class, privilege, familial addiction, and loneliness. She’s a relatable and compelling character driven by longing and painful hope, and her story will keep readers guessing till the end.” – Open Book

Leanne lives and teaches in Kingston, Ontario.

Leanne’s appearance is supported by Author Patrons Ann-Maureen and Peter Owens

Appearing in 3. Messy Lives