Ann Matthews Martin (born August 12, 1955) is an American children's fiction writer, known best for The Baby-Sitters Club series.

Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl.

[6] Describing her Smith education, Martin said “it was an environment of strong, independent women, both the students and the professors.” Her time at Smith influenced her identity as a feminist and inspired her to portray female characters who were like the women she knew in her own life.

[1] After graduating from Smith College, Martin taught in a split fourth and fifth-grade classroom at Plumfield School in Noroton, Connecticut.

[2] In 1983, Martin published her first book, Bummer Summer, which earned the Children's Choice Award in 1985.

She began writing The Baby-Sitters Club series in 1985 while working for Scholastic as a children's book editor.

[11] In 2015, Martin won the Josette Frank Award for young readers from the Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education for Rain Reign (she shared the award with I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson).

This non-profit organization distributes new books to children and establishes libraries in under-served areas.

[18] She stays busy with author appearances and adaptations of her works such as the Babysitters' Club graphic novels and network series.