Rita Williams-Garcia (born Rita Williams) is an American writer of novels for children and young adults. In 2010, her young adult novel Jumped was a National Book Award finalist for Young People's Literature. She won the 2011 Newbery Honor Award,[1] Coretta Scott King Award,[2][3] and Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction[4] for her book One Crazy Summer. She won the PEN/Norma Klein Award.[5][6] Her 2013 book, P.S. Be Eleven, was a Junior Literary Guild selection, a New York Times Editors Choice Book,[7] and won the Coretta Scott King Award in 2014.[8] In 2016 her book Gone Crazy in Alabama won the Coretta Scott King Award. In 2017, her book Clayton Byrd Goes Underground was a finalist for the National Book Award for young people's literature.[9]

Rita Williams-Garcia
Picture of Rita Williams-Garcia
Williams-Garcia in 2014.
Born (1957-04-13) April 13, 1957 (age 66)
Alma materHofstra University
Period1980–2016
Website
www.ritawg.com

Life edit

Williams-Garcia was born in Queens, New York. Her father was in the military. She graduated from Hofstra University in 1980, where she studied with Richard Price and Sonya Pilcer. She lives in Jamaica, New York. She taught for many years at Vermont College of Fine Arts.[7]

Works edit

  • Blue Tights, Lodestar Books, 1988, ISBN 978-0-525-67234-0
  • Fast Talk on a Slow Track, Dutton, 1991, ISBN 978-0-525-67334-7; reprint, Paw Prints, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4352-7952-0
  • Like Sisters on the Homefront, Lodestar Books, 1995, ISBN 978-0-525-67465-8; reprint, Paw Prints, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4352-4403-0
  • Every Time a Rainbow Dies. HarperCollins Publishers. 2001. ISBN 978-0-06-029202-7.; reprint, HarperCollins, 2002, ISBN 978-0-06-447303-3
  • No Laughter Here. HarperCollins. 2004. ISBN 978-0-688-16247-4.; reprint HarperCollins, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-440992-6
  • Jumped. HarperCollins. 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-076091-5. Rita Williams-Garcia.; reprint, HarperCollins, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-076093-9
  • One Crazy Summer. HarperCollins. 2010. ISBN 978-0-06-076088-5. Rita Williams-Garcia.
  • P.S. Be Eleven, 2013, ISBN 0061938629
  • Gone Crazy in Alabama, 2015
  • Bottle Cap Boys: Dancing on Royal Street, 2015
  • Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, 2017
  • A Sitting in St. James, published in May 2021 by Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books, ISBN 0062367293

References edit

  1. ^ "Newbery Medal Home Page". Association for Library Service to Children. 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  2. ^ "Coretta Scott King Book Awards". American Library Association. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  3. ^ "Press Releases | News & Press Center". Americanlibrariesmagazine.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  4. ^ "Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction". Scott O'Dell Committee. 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-17.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Rita Williams-Garcia (2010-03-24). "Rita Williams-Garcia from HarperCollins Publishers". Harpercollins.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  6. ^ "Rita Williams-Garcia", PEN American Center, Archived August 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b "In Focus: Rita Williams-Garcia - Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | Hofstra University". Hofstra.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  8. ^ And the Newbery, Caldecott award winners are ..., Ashley Strickland, CNN, January 27, 2014
  9. ^ "2017 National Book Award finalists revealed". CBS News. October 4, 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-04.

External links edit