Maureen Daly (March 15, 1921 – September 25, 2006), was an Irish-born American writer best known for her 1942 novel Seventeenth Summer, which she wrote while still in her teens.
Originally published for adults, it described a contemporary teenage romance and drew a large teenage audience.
It is regarded by some as the first young adult novel, although the concept of young adult literature was not developed until the 1960s, more than twenty years later.
At age 16, Daly also wrote an award-winning short story, "Sixteen", that appeared in many anthologies.
Although Daly did not publish another novel for 44 years after Seventeenth Summer, she had a long career in journalism from the 1940s through the 1990s, working at the Chicago Tribune, Ladies' Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Desert Sun in addition to doing freelance work.
While at the Tribune, she wrote a popular syndicated advice column for teenagers that was later taken over by her younger sister, Sheila John Daly.
She also wrote nonfiction books for adults and teenagers, and story books for children.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, she authored two more young adult novels dealing with themes of romance.
She was one of the four "Daly sisters" (the others being Maggie, Kay, and Sheila John) whose successful careers in media, fashion and business were covered by national magazines during the 1940s and 1950s.
She also co-wrote some books with her husband, mystery and crime author William P.