Kerry O’Malley Cerra is an award-winning author of middle-grade books and picture books.
Her first novel, Just a Drop of Water, was published on September 2, 2014, by Sky Pony Press. It won a Florida Book Award, the Crystal Kite Award, and was named to VOYA’s Top Shelf Fiction for Middle Readers’ 2014 list. In addition, the book was a finalist for the 2015-2016 Maine Student Book Award, the 2017-2018 Garden State Teen Book Award (New Jersey), the 2016-2017 Truman Award list (Missouri), and the 2018 Nene Award (Hawaii). It won runner-up for the 2016-2017 Magnolia Award (Mississippi).
Her second novel, Hear Me (Sept. 6, 2022, Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing), is based on the author’s own hearing loss/deaf experience. This contemporary middle-grade novel follows 12-year-old Rayne, who, at odds with her parents over her sudden hearing loss and looming cochlear implant surgery, sets off on a journey where she discovers that even though her ears may be broken, she is not. This book is a 2024-2025 Sunshine State Young Reader Award book.
Her novel, Make a Little Wave (Oct 1, 2024, Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing), won a Florida Book Award, was named a 2025 honor book for the national Green Earth Book Award, and was named to the Social Justice Literature Award Recommended Reading List. This story follows Sav, who, once learning about the horrific act of shark finning, sets out to stop a local restaurant from serving shark fin soup. Only things get super messy as Sav realizes the ins and outs of being an activist. Eventually, she learns to use her voice to stand up for the sharks, becoming a true eco-warrior. The scientific note that precedes the story is written by Kylie Cerra Watkins, the author’s daughter, a marine biologist with a concentration in shark studies.
Kerry’s first nonfiction picture book, The Gallaudet Eleven: The Story of NASA’s Deaf Bioastronauts is out now from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This work tells the story of eleven Deaf men and how they helped America and NASA win the Space Race. It’s a Deaf story by a deaf author with pictures by a deaf illustrator–a very cool trifecta!
Coming in January of 2028, look for her book, A Name Sign for Seraphina (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). This story follows Seraphina on her first day at a Deaf school, where she hopes to finally find her place and make friends with kids like herself. But on day one, she learns that everyone has name signs (a cultural practice in the Deaf community), and Seraphina wants one, too. Like now! And she’s determined to get one.
Kerry’s work has received praise from The New York Times, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist, VOYA, and the Horn Book Guide calling her stories moving, perceptive, well-developed, and woven with an expert hand. A deaf author herself (who now hears with the help of one cochlear implant), she’s passionate about books that depict d/Deaf and/or hearing loss experiences for children.
Kerry holds a degree in Social Science Education from the University of South Florida and only recently left her job as a high school media specialist/librarian (and a social studies teacher long before that) to return to writing full-time. She continues to use her teaching skills in super fun and interactive author presentations at schools across the country.
Though she’ll always consider South Jersey/Philly her home, she currently lives in Florida with her husband and the cutest rescue dog ever.
“The Seacrest Country Day School community was honored to host author Kerry O’Malley Cerra during the school’s annual Young Author, Young Artist Week. Mrs. Cerra’s back-to-back presentations to the combined Middle School and Upper School audience and the Lower School audience were engaging and informative. While Mrs. Cerra primarily writes for a middle-grade audience, her life experience as a deaf person, with the grit to overcome the limits of her disability, made her relatable and inspiring to Seacrest students across all divisions. Kerry Cerra is lovely and well-spoken–a role model and author to be admired! Kerry Cerra’s newest book is The Gallaudet Eleven, an information-packed nonfiction picture book highlighting the contributions of eleven deaf bioastronauts who assisted NASA in researching ways to counteract the effects of anti-gravity-induced motion sickness. The contributions of these eleven deaf bioastronauts extended to the safe and secure space travel experienced by the historic Artemis II mission! The Lower School students enjoyed the biology, physics, space-race history, and NASA information presented in this book during library classes in preparation for Kerry Cerra’s visit to Seacrest.” — Seacrest Country Day School
