Vera Brosgol was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1984 and moved to the United States when she was five. Her three graphic novels, Anya's Ghost, Be Prepared, and Plain Jane and the Mermaid, were published by First Second. She wrote and illustrated several picture books including The Little Guys and Memory Jars, and her debut Leave Me Alone! was a 2017 Caldecott Honor Book. She's also worked on storyboards for several animated films, including Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her dog Omar and a freezer full of khinkali dumplings.