Lyla Lee author page

Lyla Lee biography

Lyla Lee is an author of children’s and young adult fiction. She studied Psychology and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California and worked in a number of roles in Hollywood before becoming a published writer. Her books have been translated into several languages.

Lee created the Mindy Kim chapter-book series, published by Aladdin and illustrated by Dung Ho. Beginning with Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business, the series follows a Korean American girl as she navigates school, friendships, family life and Korean traditions. The series comprises 12 books and concludes with Mindy Kim and the Fun Family Vacation, in which Mindy travels with her family to South Korea.

For older children, Lee writes the Gigi Shin series, also published by Aladdin. Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd follows seventh-grader Gigi, an aspiring artist who starts a tutoring business with her friends to help fund a place at an art camp. The sequel, Gigi Shin, Live from Manhattan, takes Gigi and her friends to an art academy in New York City and was published in April 2026.

Lee’s young adult novels include I’ll Be the One and Flip the Script, published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. I’ll Be the One centres on Skye Shin, a Korean American teenager who enters a K-pop television competition as both a singer and dancer. The novel was selected for the American Library Association’s 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults list and its 2021 Rise: A Feminist Book Project list.