Born November 23, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, Gloria Ann Whelan was the only child and daughter of William Joseph, a contractor, and Hildegarde (Kilwinski) Rewoldt. Whelan started telling stories before she could read or write. She dictated stories, about brothers and sisters she did not have in real life, to her babysitter who kindly typed them.

As a child, the author frequented Oxbow Lake in Michigan with her father, an enthusiastic fisherman. She grew particularly fond of the area, especially Au Sable River. These childhood experiences continue to shape Whelan's writing; she includes a river in most of her books.

Whelan attended the University of Michigan. As a young adult, she dreamed about writing the great American novel. She wrote short stories for adults, and the University of Illinois Press published a collection of them. Whelan earned a bachelor of arts in 1945 and a master of social work in 1948.

On June 12, 1948, she married Joseph Leo Whelan, a neurologist. They raised two children: Joseph William and Jennifer Ann Whelan Smeeton.

Following college she worked as a social worker at the Minneapolis Family and Children's Service in Minnesota from 1948 to 1949; as a supervisor of group services and day care programs for the Children's Center of Wayne County, Detroit, Michigan from 1963 to 1968; and as an instructor in American Literature at Spring Arbor College in Michigan in 1979.

Through her imaginary travels and research, Whelan seeks to understand and find compassion for other cultures. As she researches and writes about them, she weaves empathy into the story. Whelan once saw an article in the New York Times that described the holy city of Vrindavan, India, a city where in-laws abandon widows. Whelan's unending fascination with India, coupled with an exhibition she saw of quilts embroidered by Indian women, led her to create Homeless Bird. In 2000, Homeless Bird won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and it began appearing on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Listings.

Whelan and her husband frequently vacationed in the quiet, natural habitat of Northern Michigan. Lured by its charm, Whelan and her husband decided to move there. They live in a cabin on a couple hundred acres on a small lake in Mancelona in Kalkaska County, Michigan. The nearest house is one mile away. Whelan likes to walk three miles a day in the fall, spring, and summer when weather permits. She also enjoys fly-fishing, which allows her the simple pleasure of walking down the middle of the stream. Whelan describes seeing herons, beaver, deer, and fox trotting around the lake as she glances out the window when she is writing. That relocation, along with a prospector drilling for oil on their new property, inspired Whelan's first young adult novel about a young boy who worked on an oil rig.

Throughout her career, Whelan wrote stories, poems, and reviews for journals and newspapers, including Kansas Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly, South Shore, Ontario Review, and Country Life. Whelan shows no signs of slowing down, so her books will continue to bring insight, compassion, and entertainment to young readers. The numerous awards and honors she has received for her books attests to her skill as a storyteller.