Barbara Brooks Wallace was born and spent her childhood in China, but came to live in the United States. San Francisco was a port of entry for the family many times. The huge white-pillared mansion on the side of a hill that she lived in became the Sugar Hill Hall mansion which served as the setting for some of her most popular books. She graduated from UCLA where she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. Wallace is an award-winning American children's writer, including NLAPW Children's Book Award and International Youth Library "Best of the Best" for Claudia (2001) and William Allen White Children's Book Award for Peppermints in the Parlor (1980). Wallace won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America for The Twin in the Tavern (1994) and Sparrows in the Scullery (1998). Cousins in The Castle (1997) and Ghosts in the Gallery (2001) were also nominated for an Edgar Award. Wallace's books are often compared to Lemony Snicket as well as books by Joan Lowery Nixon, a four time recipient of the Edgar Award, and Beverly Cleary. She is given high praise by the Junior Library Guild, the American Library Association, the Kirkus Reviews and Young Readers Review. Other books include:
- Secret in St. Something
- The Perils of Peppermints
- The Barrel in the Basement
- The Interesting Thing That Happened At Perfect Acres, Inc.
- Hello Claudia!
- Claudia and Duffy
- Victoria
- Can Do, Missy Charlie
- The Secret Summer of L.E.B.
- Andrew the Big Deal
- Julia and the Third Bad Thing
- Palmer Patch
- The Hawkins Series
- Miss Switch Online
- Miss Switch to the Rescue
- The Trouble with Miss Switch
- Argyle
