Hoffman, Robin

If your kids enjoy middle-grade writers Kate McMullan (Dragon Slayers' Academy) or Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Treehouse), they'll love Ben Zackheim's Shirley Link mystery series. Zackheim spent 15 years producing successful online games for Viacom, Sony and AOL, entertaining tens of millions of people who would probably rather be doing something else. So, how did he end up writing books for kids? Well, he gave up the New York corporate life for a writerly one in the Forbidden Forest at 42.5098 N, 72.6995 W.