Patrick Ness is an award-winning novelist and literary critic for the Guardian. He has also written for England's Radio 4 and Sunday Telegraph and taught creative writing at Oxford University. About The Knife of Never Letting Go, he says, "Information is absolutely everywhere today--texts and e-mails and messaging -- so much it feels like you can't get away from it. I began to wonder what it would be like to be in a town where you really couldn't get away. How could you keep hold of who you are? What price would you be willing to pay to save yourself?" Patrick Ness was born in Virginia and currently lives in London. This is his first book for young adults.