Your Favorite Women Writers

Her first story, entitled "The Lobster Which Misunderstood," was written at age 5. From there, she studied at Princeton, publishing two short stories in Seventeen magazine while still in college and went on to Harvard. To date, she has written 19 books, including popular titles like My Sister's Keeper, Perfect Match and The Tenth Circle.

"She talks about the gray areas of what most people see as black-and-white issues. She makes you look at situations from each character's point of view rather than from the outside looking in. As a result, after reading one of her books, she tends to flip your thinking about certain subjects and be a little more open-minded." — Sianna, Opelousas, Louisiana

Books that made a difference to Jodi Picoult