Kerry O'Malley Cerra
AUTHOR

Kerry O'Malley Cerra

Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Young Adult
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Kerry O’Malley Cerra is an award-winning author of middle-grade books and picture books. Her first novel, JUST A DROP OF WATER, landed on five state reading lists, won the Crystal Kite Award, a Florida Book Award, and was named to VOYA’s Top Shelf Fiction list for 2014. Her second novel, HEAR ME, is based on the author's own hearing loss/deaf experience, this contemporary middle-grade novel follows 12-year-old Rayne who--at odds with her parents over her sudden hearing loss and looming cochlear implant surgery--sets off on a journey where she discovers that even though her ears may be broken, she is not. HEAR ME is a Sunshine State Reader Award book. Her newest book, MAKE A LITTLE WAVE, won a Florida Book Award and was named a 2025 honor book for the national Green Earth Book Award. This story follows Sav, who, once learning about the horrific act of shark finning, sets out to stop a local restaurant from serving shark fin soup. Only things get super messy as Sav realizes the ins and outs of being an activist. Eventually, she learns to use her voice to stand up for the sharks, becoming a true eco-warrior. Stay tuned for her forthcoming nonfiction picture book, The Gallaudet Eleven: The Story of NASA's Deaf Bioastronauts (March 2026 from Little, Brown BFYR). This is the story of eleven deaf men who helped America and NASA win the Space Race. Kerry’s work has received praise from The New York Times, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist, VOYA, and the Horn Book Guide calling her stories moving, perceptive, well-developed, and woven with an expert hand. A deaf author herself (who now hears with the help of one cochlear implant), she's passionate about books that depict d/Deaf and/or hearing loss experiences for children. She holds a degree in Social Science Education and only recently left her job as a high school media specialist/librarian to return to writing full-time. She continues to use her teaching skills in author presentations at schools across the country.
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