Alan Gratz at a Glance

Full Name: Alan Gratz

Pronunciation: AL-uhn GRATZ

Born: January 27, 1972

Nationality: United States

Education:

• University of Tennessee (BA, Creative Writing)
• University of Tennessee (MA, English Education)

Genres:

• Historical fiction
• Middle grade fiction
• Young adult fiction

Biography & Background

Alan Gratz Biography

A native of Tennessee, Alan Gratz harbored a love of writing from a very early age. After earning degrees in creative writing and English education, he simultaneously taught middle school and worked on manuscripts that imbued middle grade stories with historical context. While his earlier works were lighter in tone, he eventually gravitated toward an edgier approach, addressing the ethical dilemmas of starkly challenging historical eras like World War II and employing a thriller format to encourage younger readers to consider complex issues in greater depth.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Gratz struggled for many years to grant his readers’ frequent requests that he write a historical novel about the event, and he discarded his first attempt entirely. Finally, around the 20-year anniversary of 9/11, Gratz published Ground Zero, which contrasts the moment-to-moment experiences of two young protagonists—a young boy who experiences the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001 and a young girl in Afghanistan who encounters a wounded American soldier in 2019.