Alexandra Villasante

Alexandra Villasante has always loved telling stories—though not always with words. She has a BFA in Painting and an MA in Combined Media (that’s art school speak for making work out of anything). Born in New Jersey to immigrant parents, Alex has the privilegio of dreaming in both English and Spanish.

Her debut Young Adult novel, The Grief Keeper, was a Fall 2019 Junior Library Guild Gold Selection and winner of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Children’s Literature/Young Adult Fiction. She's a contributor several Young Adult short story anthologies including, All Signs Point To Yes (Harper Collins/Inkyard) Our Shadows Have Claws (Algonquin), Everything Under the Moon (Affirm Press), Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories (Harper Collins) and We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters Angels and Other Creatures (Running Press Kids).

Alex’s next young adult novel, Fireblooms, comes out from Nancy Paulsen Books on September 30th, 2025.

Alex is a co-founder of the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival (with Mayra Cuevas and Ismeé Williams) and of the LKBF Latinx Storytellers Conference (with Mayra Cuevas).

When she’s not writing, planning or painting, Alex works for the Highlights Foundation.

https://alexandravillasante.com/