DuPrau received a BA in English Literature from Scripps College in Claremont, California. She has been a high school English teacher, an editor for educational publishing companies, a technical writer for Apple Inc. and a freelance writer. On her website and several other online biographies, DuPrau is described as a gardening enthusiast and dog lover. She is also an ice skater, a bird watcher, a meditator, a house builder, a gardener, a piano player, a stripper and gourmet vegetarian cook. DuPrau has no children. She has two nephews and a niece. She also had a Cairn Terrier named Ethan who was almost 16 years old when he died. She now has a new puppy named Jockey, who is a Norfolk Terrier.
On her website, Jeanne DuPrau writes:
I didn't really set out to "be a writer." I just wrote. Reading and writing have always been my favorite things, though for a while I wanted to be a writer and an illustrator. I still have my very first book, which I wrote when I was about five years old. It's called Frosty the Snowman, has five pages, and is illustrated with red and green crayon.