Nora Nickum

Nora Nickum grew up on Bainbridge Island, and describes her childhood memories of the shores of Puget Sound, searching for (and sometimes sighting) orcas as some of her most-formative ones. Nickum attended Bainbridge High School, but traveled to Northfield, MN to major in Latin American Studies at Carleton College. She received her masters in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

"I started focusing on writing children's books about four years ago when my daughter was a toddler. My stories tend to feature ocean animals in some way. Sometimes they're the main focus, sometimes they make a fun and brief appearance, like in my forthcoming picture book, This Book is Full of Holes (Peachtree, spring 2024) which includes whale blowholes and the breathing holes that seals make in Arctic ice but also terrestrial examples like wiffle ball holes and potholes. The steady thread of marine inspiration comes from having grown up on Bainbridge Island, exploring tidepools and keeping an eye out for animals like seals and herons. It also comes from my current day job at the Seattle Aquarium, where I lead ocean policy work and have fun taking breaks from my desk to visit the wolf eels, sea otters, and octopus. Superpod (Chicago Review Press, April 2023) is particularly geared toward kids and teens but written hopefully to also appeal to adults looking for a fun read. You'll meet individual orcas, like Grandmother Shachi and spunky Tofino, as well as scientists who are studying them using everything from underwater microphones to suction-cup tags." Superpod was awarded the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. For more information go to www.noranickum.com