Andrea Cheng (September 19, 1957 – December 26, 2015)[1][2] was a Hungarian-American author of children's books and poet, best known for her Anna Wang Series of middle grade novels and Shanghai Messenger.
[2] She was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the child of Hungarian immigrant parents who originally came from Australia and emigrated in 1954.
[4] After she returned from Switzerland, she studied at Cornell University to receive her master's degree in Linguistics.
[4] In addition to writing books, she taught English as a Second Language as well as Children's Literature at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.
[4] Cheng died of breast cancer on December 26, 2015, at the age of 58, after a long illness.