Megan Jo McDonald is an American children's literature author. Her most popular works include the series of books about a third grade girl named Judy Moody, written for grades 2–4. McDonald has also authored many picture books for younger children and continues to write. Her most recent work is the Julie Albright series of books for American Girl.

"Sometimes I think I am Judy Moody," says McDonald, author of the Judy Moody series, the Stink series, and The Sisters Club. "I'm certainly moody, like she is. Judy has a strong voice and always speaks up for herself. I like that." For McDonald, being able to speak up for herself wasn't always easy. She grew up as the youngest of five sisters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, an ironworker, was known to his coworkers as "Little Johnny the Storyteller." Every evening at dinner the McDonalds would gather to talk and tell stories, but Megan was barely able to get a word in edgewise. "I'm told I began to stutter," she says, leading her mother to give her a notebook so she could start "writing things down."