Cynthia DeFelice (born in 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American children's book writer. She has written 16 novels, and 12 picture books for young readers. Her novels are written for children at the reading level of ages nine to twelve.
She was born Cynthia Carter in 1951. Her father was a psychiatrist, and her mother was an English teacher, who stopped working to raise DeFelice and her siblings. She credits her mother for her interest in books. She began writing children's books in 1987. She lives in Geneva, New York.