Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian-American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. She likes writing about characters with complicated identities because her own identity has plenty of layers. Elisa was born in Ica, Peru, to American parents and lived there most of her life. She left Peru to study in the US, then left the US to start a family in Canada.
In 2007, Elisa started a documentary film company with her partner, Matthew. Together they have told stories about kids in Honduras with HIV/AIDS, guerrilla gardening in Vancouver, Canada, elderly activists around the United States, and a handwoven Incan footbridge in the Peruvian Andes. Whether creating films or connecting readers to books through her work at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Elisa has always surrounded herself with stories.
Elisa’s work with immigration advocacy, in particular with her friend Edith Espinal, inspired her to write her first book, Tethered to Other Stars. Her debut was a finalist for the Cybils Award and the Ohioana Book Award, made the 2024 Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices list, the Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list, and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, which called it “beautifully executed.” Her second book, Mallory in Full Color (November 2024) explores queer identity and learning to value all the many facets of ourselves. It was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, made the NYPL Best Books for Kids list, was named on SLJ’s Best Books of 2024 list, and received starred reviews from The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books and School Library Journal, which called it “a must-read.
