Jay Asher is an American writer of contemporary novels for teens. He has one major publication in the genre of young adult literature.

Jay Asher was born in Arcadia, California on September 30, 1975. He grew up in a family that encouraged all of his interests, from playing the guitar to his writing. He attended College right after graduating from San Luis Obispo High School. It was here where he wrote his first two children’s books for a class called Children’s Literature Appreciation. After high school, he decided he wanted to become an elementary school teacher. He then transferred to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he left his senior year in order to pursue his career as a serious writer. He is married. Throughout his life he worked in various establishments, including as a salesman in a shoe store and in libraries and bookstores. Many of his work experiences had an impact on some aspect of his writing.

He has published two books to date, Thirteen Reasons Why, a 2007 New York Times best-selling young-adult fiction novel, and The Future of Us, co written by Carolyn Mackler.

Asher (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר, Modern Asher Tiberian ʼĀšēr), in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher.

The text of the Torah argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew term osher (with the same meaning); the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri (meaning in my good fortune), and ishsheruni, which textual scholars attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist. Many scholars suspect that the name of Asher may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah, or Ashur, the chief Assyrian deity; the latter possibility is cognate with Asher.

Asher played a role in the plot to sell his brother Joseph into slavery.(Gen. 37:23-36) Asher and his four sons and daughter settled in Canaan. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses Asher by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties"(Genesis 49:20).

The eighth son of the patriarch Jacob, and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asher. However, some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.

Carolyn Mackler (born July 13, 1973 in Manhattan) is an American author of young adult literature. She has written five novels including Love and Other Four-Letter Words, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, which won the Michael L. Printz award, Vegan Virgin Valentine, Guyaholic: A Story of Finding, Flirting, Forgetting...and the Boy Who Changes Everything, Tangled. Her novels are in print in many different countries such as: the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia. Mackler has also contributed to many teen magazines including Seventeen, Storyworks, Glamour, Girl's Life, American Girl, and CosmoGIRL!.

Mackler was born in Manhattan, but when she was one her parents moved to Greenwich Village, later to Syracuse, New York, and finally to Brockport, New York, which is the setting for many of her novels. Mackler was always interested in writing, and from an early age tested her talent at it. Beginning at age four she created a newspaper with her best friend, recorded stories on a tape recorder, and dictated her stories to her mother who wrote them down for her. She lived in Brockport until leaving for college in 1991. From 1991-1995 she attended Vassar College where she obtained a degree in Art History in 1995. After college, Mackler drifted and lived in Seattle, Washington briefly before returning to New York City in December 1995. In 2003, Mackler married her husband and they now live in an apartment in Manhattan with their two sons.

Asher Monroe Book (born September 18, 1988) is an American dancer, singer and actor.

Born in Arlington, Virginia in 1988, Asher started working professionally when he was seven years old. His first big break was at the age of seven when he landed the role of tiny teacup Chip in the national tour of the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast.” He continued working on show after show, which led him to New York City, where he attended the Professional Performing Arts School in New York from 2000 to 2002, before moving to Los Angeles.

At age seven, Book was chosen from an open casting call to portray tiny teacup Chip in the national tour of Beauty and the Beast, followed by the lead role in a production^[where?] of Oliver!. In 2004, he appeared in the television movie Pop Rocks and the film Come Away Home. This was followed by guest roles on Zoey 101, Medium and Close to Home. In 2009, Monroe portrayed Marco, an aspiring singer, in the MGM and Lakeshore feature film Fame, a remake of the 1980 musical film of the same name. In 2010, Book had a recurring role as Steve in the NBC television series Parenthood. The same year in August 2010 he booked a role on the hit show The Mentalist.