Leslie Stella is the author of four novels: Unimaginable Zero Summer (Crown, 2005), The Easy Hour (Crown, 2003), Fat Bald Jeff (Grove Press, 2001), and Permanent Record (Skyscape/Amazon Children’s Publishing, 2013). She was a founding editor of the Chicago-based politics and satire magazine Lumpen, and her work has been published in The Mississippi Review, The Adirondack Review, Bust, Easy Listener, and anthologized in The Book of Zines: Readings from the Fringe (Henry Holt, 1997; compiled by Playboy editor Chip Rowe), a collection of essays and articles from the obsessive, frequently bizarre world of zines. Leslie was nominated for a 2004 Pushcart Prize in short fiction, and Permanent Record is her first novel for young adults. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, she lives in Illinois with her husband and children.