Born in Houston, Texas, Jo Ellen Bogart attended the University of Texas in Austin, earning degrees in education and psychology. She came to Canada in 1975 and settled in Guelph, where she still lives. She is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S.--having attained her Canadian citizenship in 1995. The mother of two grown children, she spends her time writing, reading, gardening, cottaging, surfing the internet and caring for a household of well-loved pets. She also enjoys travelling around Canada to speak to her young readers.