Scott David Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult fiction, born on May 5, 1963 in Texas, USA. He is renowned for his work on the Uglies and Leviathan series. His current series, IMPOSTORS, returns to the world of Uglies. The next book in that series, MIRROR'S EDGE, was released on April 6, 2021.

Westerfeld is best known for the Uglies quartet, set in a future where cosmetic surgery is compulsory at age sixteen. He continued the Uglies world with four new novels, starting with Impostors. All four of the new books are now published. Uglies will be adapted into a Netflix movie in late 2024.

His other renowned series, the Leviathan trilogy, is a steampunk retelling of World War I, illustrated by Keith Thompson and features adventure, walking machines, and living airships. Leviathan will be adapted into an anime series in 2025, also streaming on Netflix.

Other works include the Zeroes trilogy, written with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti, about six teens with strange powers, and the Midnighters trilogy, about five teenagers for whom time freezes every night. His standalone works include four novels set in contemporary New York: So Yesterday, Peeps, The Last Days, and Afterworlds.

His books have won the Philip K Dick Special Citation, the Aurealis Award, the Victorian Premier’s Award, and have been named NY Times Notable Books and BBYA Top Ten Children’s Books of the Year. He has contributed nonfiction to Nerve, BookForum, and the scientific journal Nature. Westerfeld was also an occasional ghostwriter, and in his earlier career, he wrote music for artsy downtown New York dancers.

Outside writing, he has held jobs as a factory worker, substitute teacher, textbook editor, and software designer. Westerfeld married writer Justine Larbalestier in 2001, and they split their time between New York City and Sydney, Australia.