Monica Hughes OC (November 3, 1925 – March 7, 2003) was an English-Canadian author of books for children and young adults, especially science fiction.

[1] She also wrote adventure and historical novels set in Canada, and the text for some children's picture books.

[1] Monica Hughes has repeatedly been called "Canada's finest writer of science fiction for children", by critic Sarah Ellis in The Horn Book Magazine.

[2] Accepting the Phoenix Award for Keeper twenty years later, Hughes discussed her writing process in general and for that work specifically.

That prize is named for the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity.

[10] Invitation to the Game (Toronto: HarperCollins, 1990) won the Hal Clement Award as the year's best science fiction novel for young adults.