Ryan was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she graduated from Pioneer High School in 1989. Her first novel, Empress of the World, was published in 2001 and is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. A sequel, The Rules for Hearts, was published in 2007 and won the 2008 Oregon Book Award for Young Adult Literature. She also writes graphic novels and is a member of the Periscope Studio.

Openly bisexual, she is married to the cartoonist Steve Lieber.

Novels

• Empress of the World (2001)
• The Rules for Hearts (2007)

Graphic novels and sequential art

• Me and Edith Head (art: Steve Lieber) in Cricket v.4 no. 1 (Carus Publishing), 2002
• Nominated for a 2002 Eisner Award for Best Short Story
• reprinted as a standalone, self-published volume, 2002
• "Family Story" (art: Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker) in Weird Tales #3, 2003
• Collected in Hellboy: Weird Tales 1 (ISBN 1-56971-622-6, Dark Horse), 2003
• Flytrap - Episode One: Juggling Act (art: Steve Lieber), 2005
• Flytrap - Episode Two: Deep, too (art: Ron Chan), 2007
• Flytrap - Episode Three: Over the Wall (art: Ron Chan), 2007
• Flytrap - Episode Four: Performance Anxiety (art: Sarah Burrini), 2009
• Click (art: Dylan Meconis), 2007
• Einbahnstrasse Waltz (art: Cat Ellis), 2007