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Mara Rockliff is an American author of children's books. She is best known for her historical picture books, including Cook Prize winner and Orbis Pictus Award honor book Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France. Under the pen name Lewis B. Montgomery, she also wrote all twelve titles in The Milo & Jazz Mysteries, a chapter book series. Her books have been translated into a number of languages, including Spanish, French, German, Polish, Chinese, Korean, and Esperanto.

Career
Rockliff has described her work as "digging up fascinating, often funny stories about famous people—and forgotten people who deserve to be famous again." Her offbeat subjects have included "Queen of Magic" Adelaide Herrmann; gingerbread baker and spy Christopher Ludwick; produce pioneer Frieda Caplan, who gave Americans the kiwi fruit; and L. L. Zamenhof, inventor of the international language Esperanto, among many others.

Her most popular book, Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno, appeared in 2015. In an interview with Shelf Awareness, she said she first came across the story in an article by history and science writer Stephan A. Schwartz. She explained, "I knew right away it was a winner. I mean, you've got Franklin, who was way more fun than any other founding father. You've got Dr. Mesmer in his purple robe, waving his magic wand and claiming to control a spooky invisible force. You've got all the glamour of Paris before the [French] Revolution, with the ladies of the court in those amazing wigs. And then, with all this color and excitement, you've got a truly significant moment in scientific history, and a fascinating way to introduce young readers to the scientific method. I couldn't pass it up."

In 2020, the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, created by Congress to coordinate the nationwide celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, partnered with the American Library Association to distribute three books about women's suffrage to schools and libraries across the country. Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles, illustrated by Hadley Hooper, was the book selected for elementary school-age readers.

Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, received a Sibert Honor from the American Library Association in 2023. The New York Times summarized its theme: "Movements are bigger than the headliners; behind every Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King is an army of Georgia Gilmores. Anyone can be a hero and a hero can come from anywhere."

Florida "book ban" controversy
In December 2022, The Forward reported that Rockliff's picture book Chik Chak Shabbat was one of 176 titles removed from school shelves in Duval County, Florida. According to public records, the school district purchased about ten thousand copies of these books in 2021, then ordered them removed in January 2022. PEN America protested the unexplained removal, calling it a "book ban." Multiple reports of large-scale removals of books from classrooms and libraries followed Florida's passage of the Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, and the "Stop WOKE" Act, prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory in schools.

When questioned, Duval County Public School officials gave no reason for the removal of Chik Chak Shabbat—a picture book about a multicultural group of neighbors coming together to help their friend Goldie celebrate the Jewish Sabbath with a festive meal—or any of the other titles. Following a flurry of media attention, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Chik Chak Shabbat, which it described as "a standard for Jewish children since its 2014 publication," had been returned to classroom shelves, while another book with Jewish themes remained "under review."

Picture books (historical)

 * Signs of Hope: The Revolutionary Art of Sister Corita Kent, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2024)
 * Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Random House Studio, 2022)
 * A Perfect Fit: How Lena "Lane" Bryant Changed the Shape of Fashion, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (Clarion Books, 2022)
 * The Girl Who Could Fix Anything: Beatrice Shilling, World War II Engineer, illustrated by Daniel Duncan (Candlewick Press, 2021)
 * Try It! How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat, illustrated by Giselle Potter (Beach Lane Books, 2021)
 * Jefferson Measures a Moose, illustrated by S. D. Schindler (Candlewick Press, 2020)
 * Doctor Esperanto and the Language of Hope, illustrated by Zosia Dzierzawska (Candlewick Press, 2019)
 * Billie Jean! How Tennis Star Billie Jean King Changed Women's Sports, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2019)
 * Lights! Camera! Alice! The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker, illustrated by Simona Ciraolo (Chronicle Books, 2018)
 * Born to Swing: Lil Hardin Armstrong's Life in Jazz, illustrated by Michele Wood (Calkins Creek, 2018)
 * Anything but Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Candlewick Press, 2016)
 * Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles, illustrated by Hadley Hooper (Candlewick Press, 2016)
 * Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Candlewick Press, 2015)
 * Gingerbread for Liberty! How an American Baker Helped Win the American Revolution, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch (Clarion Books, 2015)
 * Me and Momma and Big John, illustrated by William Low (Candlewick Press, 2012)
 * My Heart Will Not Sit Down, illustrated by Ann Tanksley (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012)

Picture books (contemporary and fantasy)

 * All at Once Upon a Time, illustrated by Gladys Jose (Abrams Books for Young Readers, forthcoming)
 * Chik Chak Shabbat, illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker (Candlewick Press, 2014)
 * The Grudge Keeper, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler (Peachtree Press, 2014)
 * The Busiest Street in Town, illustrated by Sarah McMenemy (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2009)

Chapter books

 * Writing as Lewis B. Montgomery: The Milo & Jazz Mysteries, illustrated by Amy Wummer (Kane Press, 2009-2014)


 * 1) The Case of the Stinky Socks
 * 2) The Case of the Poisoned Pig
 * 3) The Case of the Haunted Haunted House
 * 4) The Case of the Amazing Zelda
 * 5) The Case of the July 4th Jinx
 * 6) The Case of the Missing Moose
 * 7) The Case of the Purple Pool
 * 8) The Case of the Diamonds in the Desk
 * 9) The Case of the Crooked Campaign
 * 10) The Case of the Superstar Scam
 * 11) The Case of the Locked Box
 * 12) The Case of the Buried Bones

Graphic novels

 * Scooping Hemingway, illustrated by Katy Wu (Greenwillow Books, forthcoming)
 * Secrets and Sabotage, illustrated by Yvette Chua (Chronicle Books, forthcoming)

Nonfiction (YA)

 * Get Real: What Kind of World Are You Buying? (Running Press Kids, 2010)

Educational

 * Writing as Eleanor May and Nan Walker: multiple titles in the series Mouse Math, Science Solves It, Math Matters, Social Studies Connects, and How to Be an Earthling (Kane Press, 2006-2021)
 * Pieces of Another World, illustrated by Salima Alikhan (Arbordale, 2005)
 * Next to an Ant, illustrated by Pascal Constantin (Scholastic Rookie Reader, 2004)