Jacqueline Woodson - About the Author
Born on February 12 in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline Woodson spent her early life in Greenville, South Carolina. At age seven, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she currently lives. She is the celebrated author of numerous award-winning books for children, young adults, and adults. In 2006, she received a Newbery Honor for Show Way and the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults.
Other distinctions include: two National Book Award nominations, a Coretta Scott King Award, three Coretta Scott King Honors, two Jane Addams Peace Awards, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence in Fiction.
"I used to say I'd be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing.
"I wrote on everything and everywhere … I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.
"For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to write. I never thought there'd come a day when I could sit for hours doing just that and some days, it still feels like a sweet dream.
"I write because I believe there are so many stories to tell and so many people in the world who have historically not been a part of our literature. When I was a kid, I rarely came across images of African Americans on the page. I write because I absolutely love writing – and because I believe literature can change the world."
-- Courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group
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