Kathleen Karr (née Csere; April 21, 1946 – December 6, 2017) was an American author of historical novels for children and young adults.

[1] Karr was born April 21, 1946, in Allentown, Pennsylvania and grew up on a chicken farm in the Dorothy section of Weymouth Township, New Jersey[2] She graduated from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1968 and received a master's degree in English literature from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island in 1971.

Karr worked at the newly formed American Film Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1971.

After a year there, she worked for the Circle Theatre chain until her daughter was born.

In her novel, the prison's chaplain uses the transformative power of music and theater in helping reform inmates and in bringing them together in spirited community.