[5] In addition to her two contemporary novels, Melanie also contributed an essay to the anthology IT'S A BOY and maintained a popular mom blog called The Refrigerator Door.

[6] Under the pen name Melanie Benjamin (a combination of her first name and her son's first name), she shifted genres to historical fiction.

Her novel The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb focuses on the life of Lavinia Warren, a proportionate dwarf featured in P. T. Barnum's shows.

[12] In addition it was a USA Today bestseller[13] as well as an Indie Next List choice in both hardcover[14] and paperback.

In 2021 Melanie Benjamin published The Children's Blizzard, which won the 2022 WILLA Literary Award in Historical Fiction.