 First edition | |
| Author | Lois Duncan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
Publication date | March 1982 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 263 |
| ISBN | 0-316-19552-9 |
| OCLC | 7977698 |
| LC Class | PS3554.U464 Z463 |
Chapters: My Growth as a Writer is a 1982 autobiography by Lois Duncan. [1]
In Chapters: My Growth as a Writer, Duncan describes how she included real life experiences in her short stories. Her stories include "The Fairy in the Woods", which she wrote when she was 10 and was rejected by all of the magazines she submitted the story to, and "The Reason", which she wrote at age 13 and was accepted for publication. Duncan also recounts her transition from writing short stories and poems for magazines to writing her first books. [1] [2]
In 1982, the novel was selected as an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. [3] Terry Lawhead from the School Library Journal thought the autobiography "reads easily, like one of her novels" and that "she has a good hold on her adolescence". [4] Zena Sutherland, writing for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books stated that Duncan "writes with candor and discernment, in an easy, flowing style." [1] Iris McClellan Tiedt wrote in the English Journal that the book "is good reading for anyone, but it offers an especially wonderful model for aspiring young authors." She stated she has 'often recommended it to individual students of promise for its realism, its account of persistence (Duncan submitted consistently for three years before she received that first acceptance), its wisdom ("Every experience you have is stored away inside you, to draw upon as you need it for your writing"), its authentic voice, its record of growth over time.' [2]
Stephen R. Lawhead is an American writer known for his works of fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction, particularly Celtic historical fiction. He has written over 28 novels and numerous children's and non-fiction books.
Magic Tree House is an American children's series written by American author Mary Pope Osborne. The original American series was illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca until 2016, after which AG Ford took over. Other illustrators have been used for foreign-language editions.
Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will.
Lois Ann Lowry is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for young audiences.
Killing Mr. Griffin is a 1978 suspense novel by Lois Duncan about a group of teenaged students at a New Mexico high school, who plan to kidnap their strict English teacher, Mr. Griffin. Duncan developed the story from the character of Mark, who is involved in the kidnapping plan and is based on the first boyfriend of Duncan's oldest daughter. Mr. Griffin was based on the personality of a teacher one of Duncan's daughters had in high school. In 2010, the novel was reissued with changes to modernize the content, making it more age appropriate and appealing to readers.
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Lois Duncan Steinmetz, known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in the development of young-adult fiction, particularly in the genres of horror, thriller, and suspense.
Locked in Time is a 1985 suspense novel by Lois Duncan. The story centers around Nore, a seventeen-year-old girl who moves into a new home with her father and her new stepfamily. Soon after she meets her stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister for the first time, Nore begins to suspect something is not quite right about her stepfamily. The author states that the novel explores some of the issues surrounding having eternal life. Duncan says she developed the idea for the novel when one of her daughters was thirteen years old and was having issues with her body image. Duncan mentions that her daughter was "taking everything out" on her, and she began to wonder what it would be like if her daughter never outgrew her adolescence.
Lois Lenore Lenski Covey was a Newbery Medal-winning author and illustrator of picture books and children's literature. Beginning in 1927 with her first books, Skipping Village and Jack Horner's Pie: A Book of Nursery Rhymes, Lenski published 98 books, including several posthumously. Her work includes children's picture books and illustrated chapter books, songbooks, poetry, short stories, her 1972 autobiography, Journey into Childhood, and essays about books and children's literature. Her best-known bodies of work include the "Mr. Small" series of picture books (1934–62); her "Historical" series of novels, including the Newbery Honor-winning titles Phebe Fairchild: Her Book (1936) and Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison (1941); and her "Regional" series, including Newbery Medal-winning Strawberry Girl (1945) and Children's Book Award-winning Judy's Journey (1947).
Down a Dark Hall is a 1974 young adult gothic novel by Lois Duncan. The book follows Kit Gordy, who is sent to a boarding school where only four students are admitted including herself. The students suddenly develop new talents, with Kit waking up one night playing a musical piece she has never heard. After they are told that they have been channeling the spirits of talented historical figures, Kit tries to escape the school before the bond between the spirits and the students becomes permanent.
Marijane Agnes Meaker was an American writer who, along with Tereska Torres, was credited with launching the lesbian pulp fiction genre, the only accessible novels on that theme in the 1950s.
Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. A similar term is sapphic literature, encompassing works that feature love between women that are not necessarily lesbian.
The Computer Nut is a 1984 children's novel written by Betsy Byars. It was the first novel Betsy Byars wrote on her new computer.
Dear Mr. Henshaw is a juvenile epistolary novel by Beverly Cleary and illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky that was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1984. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".
Stranger with My Face is a young adult horror novel by Lois Duncan, first published in 1981. The novel is about Laurie Stratton, who is seen by others in places she knows she could not be. She discovers that she has an identical twin sister named Lia who has been visiting her town using astral projection, which involves sending her soul outside her body. Laurie learns astral projection and uses it to look for her sister. During this time, Lia's spirit takes control of Laurie's body. The story describes Laurie's struggle to take back control of her body. The novel explores themes of appearance versus true self and the idea of a double, someone similar but not quite the same as someone else. Duncan got the idea for the book after hearing about the concept of astral projection, which she thought would make a great plot for a novel. In 2011, the novel was updated with text to modernize the content.
Mary Nuzum Dolim was a Kansas-born American children's writer. She published four books and penned several articles and short stories. Mary Dolim was noted for writing about the Southern United States and for writing about career women in the 1960s.
The Twisted Window is a 1987 suspense novel by Lois Duncan. It is about Tracy, a high school student who agrees to help someone find his missing stepsister, who he says was kidnapped by his stepfather.
A Gift of Magic is a 1971 novel by Lois Duncan about a grandmother who gives her grandchildren distinct gifts. Brendon is given the gift of music, Kirby is given the gift of dance, and Nancy is given the gift of magic. Nancy's gift gives her extrasensory perception (ESP), which allows her to sense events that are happening in places she is not physically present and to read other people's minds. The novel explores some of the benefits, problems and responsibilities Nancy's gift gives her.
Zena Sutherland was an American reviewer of children's literature. She is best known for her contributions to the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and as the author of the library science textbook Children and Books.