Monique Polak

It’s a good thing Monique Polak has a lot of energy, because she likes to do a lot of stuff. In addition to teaching English and Humanities at Marianopolis College in Montreal, Monique is an active freelance journalist whose work appears frequently in The Montreal Gazette and in Canwest newspapers across the country.

But what Monique likes to do most of all is write fiction for young adults. She is the author of eight novels: Flip Turn (James Lorimer, 2004); No More Pranks (Orca, 2004); On the Game (James Lorimer, 2005); Home Invasion (Orca, 2005); All In (James Lorimer, 2006); Finding Elmo (Orca, 2007); Scarred (James Lorimer, 2007) and 121 Express (Orca, 2008). Monique's next novel, What World Is Left, a historical novel based on her mother's experience in a Nazi concentration camp, will be released by Orca in fall 2008.

Flip Turn and On the Game were both selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for its Our Choice lists. Home Invasion was named a Popular Paperback by the American Library Association. All In was nominated for an Arthur Ellis crime-writing prize. Resource Links recently included Scarred on its Best of 2007 list.

Monique lives in Montreal, where most of her stories are set. In addition to writing and teaching, she enjoys cooking, jogging and puttering around her house. She is married to a newspaperman and has one daughter.