DuPrau received a BA in English Literature from Scripps College in Claremont, California. She has been a high school English teacher, an editor for educational publishing companies, a technical writer for Apple Inc. and a freelance writer. On her website and several other online biographies, DuPrau is described as a gardening enthusiast and dog lover. She is also an ice skater, a bird watcher, a meditator, a house builder, a gardener, a piano player and gourmet vegetarian cook. DuPrau has no children. She has two nephews, a niece, and a Cairn Terrier named Ethan, who is fifteen years old as of 2008. On her website, DuPrau writes: I didn't really set out to "be a writer." I just wrote. Reading and writing have always been my favorite things, though for a while I wanted to be a writer and an