Linas Alsenas is a gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and book illustrator. After attending Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, where he was an illustrator for the campus newspaper, he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and worked as an editor for Interior Design magazine and then at Abrams Books

ABRAMS Books

Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. , is an American publisher of high-quality art and illustrated books, and the enterprise is presently a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe...

 for Young Readers. In 2006, Scholastic released his first picture book, Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation, which he wrote and illustrated. In 2007, Scholastic released Peanut, followed by Hello My Name Is Bob in 2009.

Alsenas is also the author of Gay America: Struggle For Equality, published by Amulet Books in 2008, the first gay history textbook written for teens. The book was an American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

's Stonewall Book Awards Children's and Young Adult Literature Award Honor Book in 2010.

Alsenas currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden with his husband, Jan Wilhelmsson.