Ibi Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti. At only four years old, she and her mother left Haiti and immigrated to New York City. She remembers thinking of the city as magical and says it has inspired her love of fantasy, science-fiction, and mythology writing. Zoboi currently resides in Maplewood, New Jersey where she lives with her husband, three children and three pet turtles.

Zoboi is the author of four novels. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich is a New York Times Bestseller, and her novel American Street was a National Book Award finalist. Her work has been featured in the New York Times Book Review, Horn Book Magazine and The Rumpus. 

Besides being a successful author, Zoboi also spends a good portion of her time working in many arts organizations around New York City’s public schools as both a teacher for the arts and a writer-in-residence. Her primary focus is on teen girls in both Brooklyn and Haiti, where her goal is to assist these young girls to better their critical reading and writing skills.