Cooney was born in 1947 in Geneva, New York. She grew up in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended Indiana University from 1965 to 1966, then went to Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing from 1966 to 1967. She went to the University of Connecticut in 1968. She attended several colleges but didn't want to obtain a degree because of certain circumstances.[2] She did not initially know she wanted to be a writer. Cooney took care of three children while writing after her first book got published. That's when the books started getting published one after another.
Cooney's books have received several honors, including an IRA–CBC Children's Choice and being named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Most recently Cooney's Diamonds in the Shadow was named a 2008 ALA/YALSA Quick Pick[3] and was a nominee for the Edgar Allan Poe Award.[4]
