Applegate was born in Michigan in July 19, 1956. Since then she has lived in Texas, Florida, California, Minnesota, Illinois, North Carolina, and after living in Pelago, Italy for a year, she has moved back to Southern California. In 2003, she and her husband, Michael Grant, her co-author on many projects including Animorphs and Everworld, adopted their daughter, Julia, in China. Following the end of Animorphs, Applegate took three years off. She is back at work and has written a picture book called The Buffalo Storm, a middle reader novel called Home of the Brave and an early chapters series Roscoe Riley Rules with HarperCollins. Her book Home of the Brave has won the SCBWI 2008 Golden Kite Award for Best Fiction, the Bank Street 2008 Josette Frank Award, and is a Judy Lopez Memorial Award honor book.

Recent works

• Home of the Brave
• The Buffalo Storm
• Roscoe Riley Rules
• Beach Blondes, A Summer Novel
• Tan Lines, A Summer Novel

Animorphs

Companion books

• The Andalite's Gift
• In the Time of Dinosaurs
• Elfangor's Secret
• Back to Before
• The Andalite Chronicles
• The Hork-Bajir Chronicles
• The Ellimist Chronicles
• Visser
• The First Journey
• The Next Passage

Remnants

1. The Mayflower Project
2. Destination Unknown
3. Them
4. Nowhere Land
5. Mutation
6. Breakdown
7. Isolation
8. Mother, May I?
9. No Place Like Home
10. Lost and Found
11. Dream Storm
12. Aftermath
13. Survival
14. Begin Again

Everworld

• Everworld #1: Search for Senna
• Everworld #2: Land of Loss
• Everworld #3: Enter the Enchanted
• Everworld #4: Realm of the Reaper
• Everworld #5: Discover the Destroyer
• Everworld #6: Fear the Fantastic
• Everworld #7: Gateway to the Gods
• Everworld #8: Brave the Betrayal
• Everworld #9: Inside the Illusion
• Everworld #10: Understand the Unknown
• Everworld #11: Mystify the Magician
• Everworld #12: Entertain the End

Making Out

• Zoey Fools Around
• Jake Finds Out
• Nina Won't Tell
• Ben's In Love
• Claire Gets Caught
• What Zoey Saw
• Lucas Gets Hurt
• Aisha Goes Wild
• Zoey Plays Games
• Nina Shapes Up
• Ben Takes a Chance
• Claire Can't Lose
• Don't Tell Zoey
• Aaron Lets Go
• Who Loves Kate?
• Lara Gets Even
• Two-Timing Aisha
• Zoey Speaks Out
• Kate Finds Love
• Never Trust Lara
• Trouble with Aaron
• Always Loving Zoey
• Lara Gets Lucky
• Now Zoey's Alone
• Don't Forget Lara
• Zoey's Broken Heart
• Falling for Claire
• Zoey Comes Home

Miscellaneous

• Harlequin romance novels, as Katherine Kendall
• Girl Talk novels, as L.E. Blair
• Ocean City series (republished as Making Waves)
• Summer series (this series was originally published as Making Waves in the UK)
• Boyfriends/Girlfriends series (republished as Making Out)
• Barf-O-Rama series, as Pat Pollari
• Disney's The Little Mermaid series
• Disney's Aladdin series, as both A.R. Plumb and her own name
• Silver Creek Riders series, as Beth Kincaid
• Love Stories series
• The Story of Two American Generals: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. and Colin L. Powell
• The Very Best Jinx McGee
• Disney's Christmas with all the Trimmings: Original Stories and Crafts from Mickey Mouse and Friends
• Disney's Enter if you Dare: Scary Tales from the Haunted Mansion, as Nicholas Stephens