Stella Partheniou Grasso was born in Nicosia, Cyprus and grew up in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Her last name is pronounced Parth-en-EE-ou GRASS-o. She loves that Partheniou contains all the vowels (except for Y) and that they appear in alphabetical order. Click on the audio button below the photo to here to hear how it sounds.

As a kid Stella loved collecting things: hockey cards, stamps, rocks, shells. She spent a lot of time making crafts, conducting science experiments and reading. Stella was always looking for a reason to read. Every year she participated in the MS Read-a-thon, and in the summer reading programs at the Victoria and Stamford branches of the Niagara Falls Public Library.

She has always enjoyed writing. In grade four she wrote and directed a class play called Prince Pickleworth Stops Littering. She and her sister created a picture book called Amy the Balloon. Sadly, both these early works have been lost.

Stella went to Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario where she studied English Literature, History and Classical Studies. She thought about becoming a globe-trotting archaeologist but decided to stay closer to home.

After graduation she went to Centennial College for Book and Magazine Publishing. Stella interned with The Canadian Children's Book Centre. She has been working in children's publishing since 2003.

Stella lives with her family in Ajax, Ontario and spends a lot of the summer in the Algonquin Highlands hiding from mosquitoes.