Claudia Rowe

National Book Award finalist Claudia Rowe has been writing about the places where youth and government clash since the early 1990s. She is the recipient of a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism and multiple honors for investigative reporting. Her work has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she is currently a member of The Seattle Times editorial board.  

Rowe's latest book, "Wards of the State," explores the often-ugly world of foster care. In 2018, her true crime memoir, "The Spider and the Fly," won the Washington State Book Award.  

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Awards: Washington State Book Award for Memoir, 2018

Books:

Wards of the State

The Long Shadow of American Foster Care
Current Issues / Politics / Social Science
Abrams, Incorporated
May 2025
ISBN 9781419763151
304 pages

The Spider and the Fly

A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder
True Crime
HarperCollins
January 2017
ISBN 9780062497628
384 pages