Book Review

Author Profile: Katherine Paterson

Overview:

Katherine Paterson is the author of over 30 books including books published in the following genres novels, picture books, I-can-read and Chapter books, non-fiction and essays, and Christmas short stories.

Author Background:

Katherine Paterson didn't start out as a writer; she really wanted to be a missionary. On her way to becoming a missionary she taught one year in a rural school in northern Virginia. She then attended graduate school in Richmond studying Bible and Christian Education. After two years she went to Japan as a missionary where she remained for four years. Upon returning to the United States she met and married a Presbyterian minister in 1962. Her writing career actually began in 1964 when she wrote some curriculum materials for fifth and sixth grade students in the church. She knew she wanted to write fiction but with four small children she found it almost impossible. A friend began taking her to a creative writing class once a week and at the end of the course she had had her first novel published. She sometimes wondered what every made her think she could write but then tells " Eventually someone like Lyddie Worthen and her family come along, and I'll spend a couple of wonderful years getting to know them and telling their story--LYDDIE. Then it all seems worth the struggle, and I know beyond any doubt that I am the most fortunate person in the world to have been given such work to do." As we will see, much of Paterson's work is based on true life experiences.

Honors and Awards:

Jip, His Story

The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction 1997

Flip-Flop Girl

ALA Notable Children's Book

Lyddie

Honor Book of the International Board of Books for Young People 1994

ALA Best Book for Young Adults

ALA Notable Children's Book

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks

Boston Globe/Horn Book Picture Book Award 1991

Park's Quest

Library of Congress Books for Children

Jacob Have I Loved

Newbery Medal 1981

ALA Notable Children's Book 1976-1980

The Bridge to Terrabithia

Newberry Honor Book

The Great Gilly Hopkins

Newberry Honor Book

Comments:

1. Pushing for the underdog

Paterson's novels all seem to have the theme of a child left to fend for themselves and they always seem to come out on top. She uses creative voice to make her character's and also her reader's plights to not seem quite so daunting. Many of her novels are based on true life stories of which she was a part. Her love for those with whom she comes in contact has a great impact on her writing. She attests to this in the following comment: "A teacher I met at a meeting in Virginia recently told me that when she read BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA to her class, one of the girls told her that her mother had been in that Lovettsville sixth grade. I am very happy that those children, now grown-up with children of their own, know about the book. I hope that