[1] Kelly also received a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space[2][3] and the Award for Children's Literature from the Asian Pacific Librarians Association for her second novel The Land of Forgotten Girls.

[5] Kelly was born in the United States and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but now lives in New Castle County, Delaware, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[6] Kelly has a bachelor's degree from McNeese State University[7] and a Master of Fine Arts from Rosemont College, where she teaches graduate-level courses in children's literature.

[12] Kelly has also published numerous short stories for adults and worked as a book publicist with Smith Publicity in Cherry Hill, NJ.

[13] Kelly's third novel, Hello, Universe — the story of a missing middle-school boy and the group of friends who set out to rescue him — received the 2018 Newbery Medal, among other honors.