Deborah Hopkinson

Deborah Hopkinson has been an award winning author since her first picture book, SWEET CLARA AND THE FREEDOM QUILT , won the 1994 International Reading Association Award. Iillustrated by James Ransome, SWEET CLARA was also a Reading Rainbow, Children's Book-of-the-Month Club selection and notable book in the field of Social Studies. Her second picture book, BIRDIE's LIGHTHOUSE, illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root, received a Parents Choice Silver Honor. A BAND OF ANGELS, A Story Inspired by the Jubilee Singers, illustrated by Raul Colon, was an ALA Notable. FANNIE IN THE KITCHEN, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, was a Smithsonian Notable book and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2001. Her other 2001 title, BLUEBIRD SUMMER, received the Golden Kite Honor Award for best picture book text. In 2003, UNDER THE QUILT OF NIGHT was named a winner of the Washington State Book Award. GIRL WONDER won the Great Lakes Book Award, was a Jane Addams Children's Book Award honor book, a CCBC Choices, and an Amelia Bloomer Project title. SHUTTING OUT THE SKY was a Booklist Editors' Choice, Booklinks Lasting Connections, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor book, and a Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor book.

Deborah's stories and articles have appeared in Scholastic's Storyworks Magazine, as well as in Cricket and Ladybug. Deborah was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She had a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Massachusetts and a master's in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii. In addition to writing, Deborah works full-time as the Director of Foundation Relations at Oregon State University Foundation.

Website: http://www.deborahhopkinson.com/