{{short description|American author}} {{Infobox writer | image = Ellen C. Oh 5204388.jpg | caption = Ellen Oh reading at 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival | genre = Young adult fiction | notableworks = | years_active = 2013–present | website = {{url|ellenoh.com}} | language = English | awards = | home_town = | birth_place = | alma_mater = | education = | children = | birth_date = | occupation = Novelist }} '''Ellen Oh''' (née '''Ha''') is a Korean-American author, and founding member and CEO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> She is the author of young adult and middle grade novels including the Prophecy trilogy, also known as the Dragon King Chronicles, a series of fantasy, young adult novels based on Korean folklore.<ref name=":7"/>
==Life and career== Oh grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She attended New York University and Georgetown University, graduating with a legal degree.<ref name=":7"/> She began to write seriously after she had children, prompted by her struggle to find books that included representation for her kids.<ref name=":8"/><ref name=":7"/>
''Prophecy'', the first book in Oh's young adult fantasy series, was published in January 2013.<ref name=":7"/> The series, known both as the Prophecy trilogy and the Dragon King Chronicles, draws from Korean folklore.<ref name=":1"/>
In 2014, BookCon announced an all-white line-up for the event and hosted a children's book author panel consisting of all-white, all-male participants.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":9"/> In response, Ellen Oh and others in the industry created a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks.<ref name=":0"/> The campaign, launched on May 1, 2014, gained 106 million Twitter impressions in the first 24 hours. The organization We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) was incorporated in the summer of 2014. For her work, Oh was named one of Publishers Weekly's Notable People in 2014.<ref name=":1"/> As of 2020, she is currently the president of WNDB.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":4"/>
In 2016, Oh was a judge for the National Book Awards in the young people’s literature category.<ref name=":2"/>
Oh's book, ''Spirit Hunters'', was started after her daughter was hospitalized due to depression. The first scene she wrote for the book was influenced by the hospital room and, according to Oh, based on "that feeling of depression and horror and sadness and fear that I was feeling and that I know my kid was feeling." The book follows a young child, Harper, and her family as they move into a seemingly haunted house.<ref name=":8"/> The story was influenced by Korean Shamanism, and was published in 2017.<ref name=":8"/><ref name=":10"/>
In 2020, Oh, Christina Soontornvat and Melanie Conklin created the Everywhere Book Fest, due to COVID-19 cancelling in-person book festivals. It was held online May 1 and 2, 2020, focusing on children's literature with 43,000 viewers attending.<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":6"/>
==Bibliography== *''The Dragon Egg Princess'' (2020)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dragon Egg Princess |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-oh/the-dragon-egg-princess/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |accessdate=27 July 2020 |language=en |date=24 November 2019}}</ref> *''Finding Junie Kim'' (2021)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hong |first=Catherine |date=2021-06-04 |title=Ellen Oh's New Middle Grade Novel Is Not a Fantasy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/books/review/ellen-oh-finding-junie-kim.html |access-date=2022-10-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> *''Haru Zombie Dog Hero'' (2023) *''You Are Here: Connecting Flights'' (2023)<ref> Kim, David (2023-03-08). [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/books/review/ellen-oh-you-are-here-connecting-flights.html "For 12 Young Asian American Travelers, Turbulence Begins at the Airport"] </ref> *''Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee'' (2024) *''The House Next Door'' (2025)
===''Dragon King Chronicles'' series=== * ''Prophecy'' (2013)<ref>{{cite web |title=Prophecy |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-209109-3 |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=22 August 2020 |date=18 February 2013}}</ref> *''Warrior'' (2013)<ref>{{cite web |title=Warrior |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-oh/warrior-oh/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |accessdate=22 August 2020 |language=en |date=9 October 2013}}</ref> *''King'' (2015)<ref>{{cite web |title=King |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-oh/king-oh/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |accessdate=22 August 2020 |language=en |date=22 December 2014}}</ref>
===''Spirit Hunters'' series=== *''Spirit Hunters'' (2017)<ref name=":10"/> *''Spirit Hunters: The Island of Monsters'' (2018)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilde |first1=Susie |title=The best books and YA novels of 2018 for younger readers |url=https://www.newsobserver.com/living/article222318090.html |website=The News & Observer |accessdate=5 September 2020 |date=10 December 2018}}</ref> *''Spirit Hunters: Something Wicked'' (2022)
===Short stories=== *"The Last Day" in ''Diverse Energies'' (2012), edited by Tobias S. Buckell and Joe Monti<ref>{{cite web |title=Diverse Energies |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-60060-887-2 |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=5 September 2020 |date=24 December 2012}}</ref> *"Second Chances" in ''Behind the Song'' (2017), edited by K. M. Walton<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Biedenharn |first1=Isabella |title=Read an excerpt from music-inspired YA anthology, Behind the Song — and see the cover |url=https://ew.com/books/2017/02/24/read-an-excerpt-from-music-inspired-ya-anthology-behind-the-song/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |accessdate=5 September 2020 |language=EN |date=24 February 2017}}</ref> *"Everly’s Otherworldly Dilemma" in ''The Hero Next Door'' (2019), edited by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gershowitz |first1=Elissa |title=Review of The Hero Next Door |url=https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=review-of-the-hero-next-door |website=The Horn Book |accessdate=5 September 2020 |date=13 August 2019}}</ref> *"Kodama's Ramen Shop" in ''Fresh Ink'' (2018) paperback version, edited by Lamar Giles *"Carp, Calculus and the Leap of Faith" in ''A Thousand Beginnings and Endings'' (2018) paperback version, edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman
===Editor=== *''Flying Lessons & Other Stories'' (2017)<ref>{{cite web |title=Flying Lessons & Other Stories |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-oh/flying-lessons-other-stories/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |accessdate=27 July 2020 |date=19 September 2016}}</ref> *''A Thousand Beginnings and Endings'' (2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=A Thousand Beginnings and Endings |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-267115-8 |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=22 August 2020 |date=25 June 2018}}</ref> *''On the Block:Stories of Home'' (2024)<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ellen-oh/on-the-block/ "On the Block"] ''Kirkus Reviews.'' 22 October 2024.</ref>
==References== <references>
<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Slater |first1=Dashka |title=The Uncomfortable Truth About Children's Books |url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2016/09/diversity-childrens-books-slavery-twitter/ |website=Mother Jones |accessdate=18 June 2020 |date=2016}}</ref>
<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last1=Kirch |first1=Claire |title=Notable Publishing People of 2014 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/64897-notables-of-2014.html |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=25 July 2020 |language=en |date=28 November 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=":2">{{cite web |last1=Maher |first1=John |title=Judges Announced for National Book Awards |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/69815-judges-announced-for-national-book-awards.html |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=25 July 2020 |date=1 April 2016}}</ref>
<ref name=":3">{{cite magazine |last1=Begley |first1=Sarah |title=A Collection of Tales That Bind |url=https://time.com/4606049/a-collection-of-tales-that-bind/ |magazine=Time |accessdate=5 September 2020 |date=19 December 2016}}</ref>
<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=About WNDB: Meet the Team |url=https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/#meet-the-team |website=We Need Diverse Books |date=28 April 2017 |accessdate=5 September 2020 |archive-date=25 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125182454/https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/#meet-the-team |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=":5">{{cite web |last1=Kantor |first1=Emma |last2=Young |first2=Sarah |title= Everywhere Book Fest in Photos |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/83273-everywhere-book-fest-in-photos.html |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=18 August 2020 |date=7 May 2020}}</ref>
<ref name=":6">{{cite web |last1=León |first1=Concepción de |title=Home With Your Kids? Writers Want to Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/books/writers-entertain-kids-virus.html |website=The New York Times |accessdate=18 August 2020 |date=20 March 2020}}</ref>
<ref name=":7">{{cite web |title=Prophecy and Warrior by Ellen Oh + Author Profile [in Bloom] |url=http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/prophecy-and-warrior-by-ellen-oh-author-profile/ |website=BookDragon |accessdate=5 September 2020 |date=8 September 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=":8">{{cite web |last1=Heimbach |first1=Alex |title=Ellen Oh |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/ellen-oh/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |accessdate=5 September 2020 |language=en |date=25 July 2017}}</ref>
<ref name=":9">{{cite web |last1=Kirch |first1=Claire |title=BookCon Controversy Begets Diversity Social Media Campaign |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/62094-diversity-social-media-campaign-goes-viral.html |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=5 September 2020 |language=en |date=1 May 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=":10">{{cite web |title=Spirit Hunters |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-243008-3 |website=Publishers Weekly |accessdate=22 August 2020 |language=en |date=8 June 2017}}</ref>
</references>
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh, Ellen}} Category:American writers of Korean descent Category:American writers of young adult literature Category:American nonprofit executives Category:American women founders Category:American founders Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:Georgetown University alumni