Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey in 1971, and during her early years her family lived in a "decrepit Victorian house."Black graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. She worked as a production editor on medical journals including The Journal of Pain while studying at Rutgers University. She considered becoming a librarian as a backup career, but writing drew her away.

She married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, himself an accomplished illustrator and web designer, in 1999.

, Black resides in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Black edited and contributed to the role-playing culture magazine d8 in 1996.

Her first novel, A Modern Faerie Tale, was published in 2002. Her novella The Wrath of Mulgarath reached the top of the New York Times Bestseller list in 2004.

A Modern Tale of Faerie was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award, and the recipient of the 2005 Andre Norton Award.Other Novels since these include A Modern Faery's Tale, which debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.

Black is co-executive producer of a film adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles, released in February 2008. The film covers the entirety of the novel series.

The Spiderwick Chronicles has also been released as a video game from Stormfront Studios.

The Modern Faerie Tales

• A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
• A Modern Tale of Faerie (2005)
• A Modern Faery's Tale (2007)

The Spiderwick Chronicles

• The Field Guide (2003)
• The Seeing Stone (2003)
• Lucinda's Secret (2003)
• The Ironwood Tree (2004)
• The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
• Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical Observations (2005)
• Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
• Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006)
• Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (2007)
• Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
• The Wyrm King: Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (2009)

The Good Neighbors

• The Good Neighbors: Kin (2008)
• The Good Neighbors: Kith (2009)
• The Good Neighbors: Kind (2010)

The Faery Reel:Tales from the Twilight Realm

• The Night Market (2004)

The Curse Workers

• White Cat (May 2010)
• Red Glove (May 2011)
• Black Heart (May 2012)

Collections

• Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd (2009)
• The Poison Eaters and Other Stories (2010)