Elaine Scott was born in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, the middle child of three born to her father, George J. Watts, Jr., a banker and his wife, Ethel, a homemaker. Her father's career took the family to Texas in 1952 and there, with the exception of a brief stint in Nigeria, Elaine Scott has remained. Her books have appeared on numerous "Best Books" lists and have won various awards including the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for Close Encounters With the Universe,and the Texas State Reading Association Literature Award for Young Children for When is a Planet Not a Planet? Her newest book, Space, Stars, and the Beginning of Time, will be published in January, 2011. She is now at work on Buried Alive! The Story of the Chilean Miners, to be published by Clarion in 2012.Elaine and her husband, Parker, make their home in Houston, Texas. When she isn't busy writing (which is rarely) she enjoys reading (of course,)teaching adults, visiting schools, and traveling with her husband, Parker--especially to Kauai, Hawaii,--or to Dallas to visit with their daughters, Cindy and Susan and the most outstanding grandchild in the world, Jackson Scott Beasley.