Deborah da Costa was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and raised in Verona, New Jersey. Da Costa is a pen name she uses for children's books, though she claims it does have family significance. She attended Ohio State and then Columbia University's Teacher's College in New York. She is married with two grown children and two grandchildren and lives in Maryland with her husband, Warren, and three formerly stray cats. She worked as a teacher, but now works as an educational consultant, college professor, and full-time writer.