Ralph Fletcher grew up in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He is the oldest of nine children. Each of his parents were one of eight children. He got his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1975 and his M.F.A degree in writing from Columbia University in 1983. In college he studied in Tonga in the South Pacific and Sierra Leone, South Africa. After getting his masters degree, Ralph worked in New York City classrooms as part of the Teacher College writing project. Fletcher now lives in Lee, New Hampshire. He is married to JoAnn Portalupi, with her he has written several books for teachers. Together they have four sons.