Tara Sullivan was born in India and spent her childhood living in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic with her parents, who were international aid workers. She now lives in Massachusetts with her family and writes Young Adult novels based around current human rights crises.

Her first book, Golden Boy, deals with the killing of people with albinism in Tanzania due to a belief that their body parts are good luck. Her second book, The Bitter Side of Sweet, deals with the prevalence of child slavery in modern-day chocolate production.

Golden Boy was nominated for awards in six different states. It was selected as a best book of the year by Kirkus and The Wall Street Journal and was the winner of the 2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Award. The Bitter Side of Sweet, released 2/23/16, has garnered starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal, SLC, and Publishers Weekly, and was ranked 5Q3PJS by VOYA.