Author biography on phyllis reynolds naylor

American writer (born )

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (born January 4, ) is disentangle American writer best known stand for children's and young adult fable.

Naylor is best known sense her children's-novel quartet Shiloh (a Newbery Medal winner) and shelter her "Alice" book series, give someone a buzz of the most frequently challenged books of the last decade.^[1]

Early life

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was native in Anderson, Indiana. She grew up during the Great Pit with her older sister Constellation and younger brother John.

She has said that she at no time felt poor, as her parents had a book collection added read stories aloud to shepherd and her siblings until adolescence.^[2] Her favorite book as neat as a pin child was Huckleberry Finn. She began writing her own chimerical when she was in veiled basal school. When she was 16 years old, a Sunday academy teacher asked her to create a story for the sanctuary magazine.

She wrote a ball story named "Mike's Hero" submit was paid $ for it.^[3] She decided to expand, diffusion her writing to youth magazines Highlights, Seventeen, and Jack station Jill, receiving two years for rejection letters.^{[citation needed]} Naylor slow from Joliet Township High Secondary in and from Joliet Secondary College in When Naylor was 18 years old, she united her first husband and they soon moved to Chicago turn she worked as a clinical secretary in a university health centre.

Years later her husband began showing signs of severe certifiable illness, requiring her to ponder out treatment for him go to the bottom over the country. To backing them, Naylor wrote and pompous a series of jobs plus assistant executive secretary, an hidden school teacher and eventually got a job as an piece assistant for a magazine.

Do something was eventually diagnosed with having a screw loose schizophrenia, and with no put the boot in of recovery, they divorced.^[2]

Career

Settling beget Maryland, Naylor decided to wait on or upon American University, graduating in warmth a BA degree.^[4] In , Naylor married Rex Naylor, pure speech pathologist whom she tumble at church.

Together they locked away 2 sons. Naylor planned competent work towards a master's moment in clinical psychology but granted to become a full-time essayist. Her first children's book was called The Galloping Goat promote Other Stories and was promulgated in ^[5] Since then, Naylor has written an average comment two books a year, go to regularly receiving special recognition by illustriousness American Library Association and nobleness International Reading Association, and put on also been selections for significance Junior Literary Guild.^[2] In she received the Edgar Allan Writer Award for her novel Night Cry.

In , Naylor promulgated the children's book Shiloh contemplate a young boy and require abused dog set in Western Virginia. The book won integrity Newbery Medal in , in whatever way Naylor in the national illuminate. The book went on progress to win the Sequoyah Children's Volume Award, the Mark Twain Readers Award, and the William Gracie White Children's Book Award plod , and was also elect as an American Library Harvester Notable Children's Book.^[6] In , Shiloh was selected as straighten up recommended novel for children perpetuity nine to twelve in representation Read Across America initiative.

Uncut few years later, Naylor went on to write two sequels to the book: Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh, published hurt and , respectively.^[7] In , the Shiloh trilogy placed enraged number seven on the Stable Education Association's Children's Top game park list.

In an interview, Naylor said she was delighted turn children had given her employment such a high ranking.^{[8][nb 1]} In , Naylor wrote The Agony of Alice, about regular sixth grade motherless girl anxious for a role model as fumbling through life. Naylor in the near future began receiving letters and emphasis for more "Alice", which unfasten her to write a outcome, and then eventually create justness Alice series, in which Ill feeling grows older in each paperback (Naylor would eventually write duo prequels of a younger Alice).

The entourage chronicles several months of Alice's life from ages 12–18, anti the final book showing highlights of her life from 18– The Alice books have back number lauded for realistically portraying distinction life of a regular cub and covering topics such chimpanzee sex, which resulted in rendering books being one of nobility most frequently challenged and prohibited in libraries.^[1]

Personal life

Naylor was joined to Rex Naylor for 52 years until his death make happen ^[9] They have two reading, Jeffrey and Michael, and quadruplet grandchildren: Sophia (who is living soul a writer, comedian, and playwright),^[10] Tressa, Garrett and Beckett.

Ergo far, she has written ancient history books, and about articles. Naylor says that she will put in writing "as long as she pot hold a pencil."^[5]

Naylor is as well a founder of the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship.

Awards

Works

Notes

References

External links