Tracey Hecht is a writer and entrepreneur. The American Booksellers Association chose The Mysterious Abductions—the first book in her critically acclaimed four-book middle-grade series The Nocturnals—as a Kids’ Indie Next List pick. In partnership with the New York Public Library, she created a Read Aloud Writing Program that has since been used in hundreds of schools, libraries, and bookstores. The Nocturnals is currently in development as an animated series by Warner Brothers Discovery.

Tracey has since expanded the series to include eight Grow & Read early reader books so that families with young children can share the reading experience together. Last year, she published two nonfiction companion books for both age groups so that they can learn about the unique features and adaptations of nocturnal animals that inspired the series. Nighttime Animals: Awesome Features & Surprising Adaptations received the Children’s Book Council Teacher Favorites Award for 2023.

A sought-after speaker, Tracey led a webinar for the American Association of School Librarians on the benefits of reading aloud, and she was on an in-person AASL panel, Rollicking Read-Alouds. She has worked with the Quebec Writers’ Federation to expand their diverse writers’ program and appeared as a panelist for the American Booksellers Association’s ABC Children’s Institute, where she focused on running successful virtual author visits. When she isn’t writing, she can be found hiking, reading, or spending time with her family. Tracey currently splits her time between New York City and Oquossoc, Maine, with her husband and four children.