SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Island War
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 4/26/1935
WEBSITE:
CITY: Weston
STATE: CT
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 311
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Reilly_Giff http://www.randomhouse.com/features/patriciareillygiff/patriciagiff.htm http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/2011/01/interview-with-patricia-reilly-giff/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 26, 1935, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of William J. and Alice Reilly; married James A. Giff, January 31, 1959; children: James, William, Alice.
EDUCATION:Marymount College, B.A., 1956; St. John’s University, M.A., 1958; Hofstra University, professional diploma in reading, 1975.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Public school teacher in New York, NY, 1956-60; Elmont Public Schools, Elmont, NY, teacher, 1964-84; freelance writer, 1979—. Has worked as an educational consultant for Dell Yearling and Young Yearling books; The Dinosaur’s Paw (children’s bookstore), Fairfield, CT, cofounder and partner, beginning 1994. Writing workshop instructor.
AWARDS:Honorary D.H.L., Hofstra University, 1990; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book selection, 1997, Best Books for Young Adults designation, Notable Children’s Books designation, and Newbery Medal Honor Book selection, all American Library Association (ALA), all 1998, all for Lily’s Crossing; Golden Kite Award Honor Book selection, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and ALA Notable Children’s Books designation, both 2001, both for Nory Ryan’s Song; Christopher Award, Newbery Medal Honor Book selection, and ALA Best Books for Young Adults and Notable Children’s Books designations, all 2003, all for Pictures of Hollis Woods; Edgar Award nomination, Mystery Writers of America, 2009, and William Allen White Children’s Book Award, 2011, both for Eleven; Regina Medal, Catholic Library Association, 2014; Christopher Award, 2018. for Genevieve’s War; numerous honors from state reading associations.
RELIGION: Roman Catholic.WRITINGS
Eleven was adapted for audiobook, read by Staci Snell, Listening Library, 2008. Wild Girl was adapted for audiobook, read by Justine Eyre, Listening Library, 2009. Gingersnap was adapted for audiobook, read by Olivia Campbell, Listening Library, 2013. Winter Sky was adapted for audiobook, read by Arielle Sitrick and Cassandra Campbell, Listening Library, 2014.
SIDELIGHTS
A prolific author with more than one hundred books to her credit, Patricia Reilly Giff has earned popular and critical acclaim for her sensitive and realistic novels as well as for her humorous multi-book series. In her stories for children, Giff explores situations that are familiar to most, such as staging a class play, caring for a pet, and getting along with family and friends. Perhaps best known for her numerous stories about the second graders at Polk Street School, she earned Newbery Medal Honor Book citations for her novels Lily’s Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935, Giff was an avid reader and grew up in a family rich in stories. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Marymount College and studied classic English-language authors such as Alexander Pope, John Dryden, John Keats, and Edgar Allan Poe. Intimidated by such masterworks, she changed her major from English to history, graduated, and taught in public schools for close to two decades. Married with three children by the time she reached age forty, Giff decided to try her hand at writing. Her first published book, Fourth-Grade Celebrity, appeared in 1979, and its success convinced her to dedicate herself to her craft. Together with several other books she has written for school-age readers, Fourth-Grade Celebrity is still in publication, a testament to Giff’s ability to connect with the interests of young people.
In Giff’s “Polk Street School” series featuring the popular students of a fictional school, artist Blanche Sims depicts the story’s likable and realistic young characters. Bring-your-pet-to-school week becomes the focus of Pet Parade, as student Beast looks for another pet to take to Ms. Rooney’s class because his own dog, Kissie Poo, does nothing well except sleeping. In Next Stop, New York City! and Look out, Washington, D.C.! the Polk Street School gang descends on some of the nation’s largest cities, with humorous chaos the expected result. Serving as both a story and a tour guide of sorts, these books feature maps of the subject cities as well as phone numbers of the favorite tourist attractions for kids.
In Giff’s “Ballet Slippers” books, artwork by Julie Durrell introduces young readers to Rosie O’Meara, an aspiring dancer whose enthusiasm for ballet sometimes gets her into trouble. In Starring Rosie, the girl is unhappy about finding herself cast as the evil witch rather than the featured performer in Sleeping Beauty, and A Glass Slipper for Rosie finds her involved in another class production where disappointment comes when her grandfather may not be able to attend the show. School Library Journal contributor Eva Mitnick characterized Starring Rosie as a “breezy and fun” read, while Janet M. Bair wrote in the same periodical that A Glass Slipper for Rosie is a “delightful addition to the series” as well as “a well-rounded story about family and friends.”
Illustrated by Diane Palmisciano, The Big Something opens Giff’s “Fiercely and Friends” series of easy readers. After Jilli and Jim spot a woman wearing a pointy hat and painting ice-cream cones and gumdrops on a new red building next door, they worry that she is a witch like that from Hansel and Gretel. Their worst fears appear to be realized when Jilli’s dog crawls under a fence and disappears into the stranger’s yard, but a pleasant surprise ultimately awaits them. A critic in Publishers Weekly applauded Giff’s use of “short, punchy sentences,” and Gloria Koster remarked in School Library Journal that the “dialogue in The Big Something “sounds natural and true.” Jilli and Jim’s further adventures are chronicled in The Sneaky Snow Fox and The Garden Monster.
Featuring artwork by Alasdair Bright, Giff’s “Zigzag Kids” chapter-book series focuses on a group of culturally and ethnically diverse friends who meet up in the after-school program at Zelda A. Zigzag Elementary School. Noting the easy-to-read format of the series, a Kirkus Reviews writer predicted that novice readers “will easily relate to the various troubles and anticipation of [Giff’s] … diverse crew” of young characters. For Amy Commers, writing in School Library Journal, the “short chapters and engaging story lines” in the humorous chapter books “will motivate developing readers” even as Bright’s scattered illustrations bring the students of Zigzag Elementary “to life.”
Aimed at middle graders, the “Hunter Moran” novels chronicle the exploits of an overly imaginative preteen and his adventurous twin brother. In Hunter Moran Saves the Universe brothers Hunter and Zack come to believe that their neighborhood dentist is planning to blow up their town, while a potential kidnapping and an ax murderer are their worries in Hunter Moran Hangs Out. The twins set their sights on finding buried treasure in a third series installment, Hunter Moran Digs Deep. According to Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books reviewer Kate Quealy-Gainer, Hunter Moran Saves the Universe serves as an “affectionate tribute to a kid whose mischief is entirely warm-hearted and endearing.” A Kirkus Reviews critic noted of Hunter Moran Digs Deep that Giff’s use of “nonstop action and near-slapstick humor will surely please” readers.
Giff’s best-known novel, the Newbery Medal Honor-winning Lily’s Crossing, draws on her memories of the war years and took four years to complete. A coming-of-age story, it takes place during the summer of 1944, as World War II rages across Europe. Fifteen-year-old Lily is left behind with her grandmother while her widowed father joins the U.S. Army to fight the Nazi threat overseas. Praising the award-winning novel as “a fine piece of historical fiction that evokes a time and place without taking advantage of its characters’ emotional lives,” Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books contributor Janice M. Del Negro added that Lily’s Crossing “coalesces [plot and characters] into an emotional whole that is fully satisfying.”
Meggie Dillon, one of the characters of Lily’s Crossing, plays a central role in Willow Run, which is set in Detroit, Michigan. During World War II, Detroit and its suburbs served as a hub of U.S. industry. After Meggie and her family relocate to Detroit so her father can work in the Willow Run bomber factory, she worries that her grandparents may be harassed by locals in their hometown due to their German heritage. Meggie also fears for the safety of her older brother, Eddie, who is fighting overseas. Renee Steinberg concluded in School Library Journal that Willow Run is an “engrossing, heartwarming story [that] will help readers understand how personally war affects people.”
Another historical novel by Giff, Nory Ryan’s Song is set amid the 1845 Irish potato famine. Twelve-year-old Nory Ryan lives with her family on the west-central coast of Ireland, where their farm provides them a meager living. With her father out at sea, Nory’s mother cannot pay the rent on the farm and worries that they may be evicted. When famine strikes, many families decide to immigrate to America, and Nory’s family considers joining them. A contributor for Publishers Weekly wrote that Nory Ryan’s Song “meticulously recreates” the Great Hunger (as the potato famine was called) and Giff’s “vivid descriptions of the stench of failed crops and the foul-tasting food that keeps them alive will linger in readers’ minds even after Nory’s salvation is secured.”
Maggie’s Door continues Nory’s saga by recounting her harrowing voyage across the Atlantic. The novel also follows the adventures of Nory’s friend, Sean Mallon, who becomes separated from the Ryans and must find his own passage to the new world. “Despite its grittiness,” noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer, Maggie’s Door “succeeds in evoking a sense of hope as characters rely on their resourcefulness both to stay alive and to reach their destination.” Giff moves her story forward to 1875 in Water Street , as the now-married Nory and Sean are caring for the motherless friend of their thirteen-year-old daughter. School Library Journal critic Renee Steinberg concluded of Water Street that the author “masterfully integrates” fact and fiction to “present a vivid picture of the immigrant struggle in the 1870s.”
In Gingersnap, Giff offers “an unusual little slice of World War II American life,” in the words of Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books critic Jeannette Hulick. Jayna’s older brother Rob, the only living member of her immediate family, is called to serve on a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Pacific, and she is left in the care of their landlady. When the ship sinks and Rob is declared missing in action, Jayne—urged by a ghostly voice—journeys to Brooklyn to locate a woman who may be her grandmother, using an address listed in an old recipe book. “Giff’s simple prose and realistic story line are a joy,” Amanda Fensch stated in Voice of Youth Advocates. Also praising Gingersnap, a Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that “Jayna’s yearning to belong and desperate longing for her brother’s safe return give this story its soulful core.”
In addition to her historical novels, Giff has penned a number of contemporary works for middle-grade audiences. Like Gingersnap, Until I Find Julian concerns a youngster’s search for a distant family member. After losing contact with his older brother Julian, who left Mexico to find work in the United States, Mateo heads north to find him, armed with little more than a backpack and a journal. He survives run-ins with thieves and the border police with help from Angel, a mysterious girl who serves as his guide. Kira Moody offered praise for the novel in School Library Journal, concluding of Until I Find Julian that Giff “brings Matteo’s world to life and ensnares readers with her strongly developed plot and characters.”
Pictures of Hollis Woods, Giff’s second Newbery honor book, takes place on Long Island, where talented but troubled preteen foster-child Hollis Woods—named after the section of Queens where she was discovered abandoned as an infant—begins to feel secure at the home of a retired art teacher. Booklist reviewer GraceAnne A. DeCandido praised the novel as a “moving story about families, longing, and belonging,” while in School Library Journal Jean Gaffney noted that Giff’s use of flashbacks “slowly illuminates Hollis’s life with one family who had hoped to adopt her.”
For Elizabeth, Giff’s heroine in Storyteller, family ties draw her into an historical mystery. When she visits her aunt Lily’s house following her widowed father’s departure for Australia, Elizabeth discovers a portrait of Zee, a distant ancestor whose father fought and died during the American Revolution. Zee looks uncannily like Elizabeth and inspires the girl to research her ancestor’s life. Along with telling Elizabeth’s story in her third-person text, Giff interweaves a second narrative capturing Zee’s thoughts during a time of uncertainty, fear, and family tragedy. As it “gracefully bridges two eras and two insightful perspectives,” Storyteller also brings its “characters and history alive,” according to a Publishers Weekly critic.
Winter Sky introduces Siria, the eleven-year-old daughter of a courageous firefighter. With her mother dead, the youngster feels it necessary to safeguard her dad, racing out into the night to chase his fire truck whenever she hears its siren. When Siria suspects that several fires in her neighborhood have been the work of an arsonist, she decides to investigate the matter, learning to her dismay that the evidence points to someone close to her as the perpetrator. Kerry Roeder complimented Giff’s novel in a School Library Journal review, calling Winter Sky “a powerful tale of friendship, family, and discovery.”
In Jubilee Giff offers “a poignant tale of family, friendship, and inner courage,” in the words of School Library Journal contributor Emily Holt. Abandoned by her mother as a toddler and speaking nary a word ever since, fifth-grader Judith (nicknamed Jubilee) lives with her aunt Cora on an island off the coast of Maine. Diagnosed with selective mutism, the preteen communicates only through gestures or the cartoons she loves to draw. When she receives news that her mom may be living nearby on the mainland, Jubilee’s spirits are buoyed, her hope being that her estranged parent holds the key to restoring her voice. According to a Kirkus Reviews writer, “Giff demonstrates an acute understanding of how people—especially children—can be extremely observant but at the same time misunderstand the behaviors they observe.”
Discussing her literary goals on the Random House Kids website, Giff explained that “I want … children to bubble up with laughter, or to cry over my books. I want to picture them under a cherry tree or at the library with my book in their hands. But more, I want to see them reading in the classroom. I want to see children in solitude at their desks, reading, absorbing, lost in a book.”
(open new)Giff published Genevieve’s War in 2017. Thirteen-year-old Genevieve wishes to return to America after spending the summer of 1939 with her grandmother, Meme. The Germans are expected to invade Alsace. However, she stays behind and helps Meme on her farm and through this difficult time. She witnesses Jews being deported and gets a close look as a German military officer takes up residence in the farmhouse. Genevieve and Meme attempt to prevent the Germans from getting their food and valuables. They also try to help young Remy from being caught.
Giff talked with Roger Sutton in an interview in Horn Book about the novel’s setting in Alsace as opposed to the more common location of Paris in stories set during this era. Giff recalled: “When I was a young woman I had a friend who was a much older Alsatian woman. She had been born in Pfaffenhausen and later became an American citizen. But when her husband died, she went back to Alsace and was there during the war. She told me that anybody who had been born there before the First World War was considered German. And then after the First World War they were French, and then back to German again.” She continued: “I was very interested in the dynamics of this situation. She also told me that they had to be so careful not to express any opinion in front of the children, because they were then asked in school whether their families were on the side of the French or the Germans.”
In the same interview, Giff also admitted that she nevers stops researching her topic while she is writing. “I did keep reading what I could. I also went back and forth to look at the border areas. One of my writing students found someone who grew up in Alsace after the war, so I talked to her and asked her questions, because I was so worried about making a mistake.”
Writing in Horn Book, Susan Dove Lempke observed that the novel “begins dramatically” but does not attain “that level of excitement again.” Lempke conceded, though, that “today’s readers may find the presentation of the Resistance especially compelling.” Booklist contributor Carolyn Phelan claimed that “Giff accomplishes a great deal in this engaging chapter book,” adding that “this novel is full of hardship, peril, and quiet heroism.” In a review in School Library Journal, Juliet Morefield called the novel “a well-crafted look at how World War II impacted civilians, with great potential for classroom use.” Morefield also suggested that “there is crossover appeal to a YA audience.”
In 2018 Giff published Island War. Set in the Aleutian Islands, the novel centers on twelve-year-old Izzy and Matt, who are the only two not taken prisoner by the Japanese after the United States declares war during World War II. With everyone taken to Japan, Matt and Izzy, who did not get along very well on the boat to the island, realize that they must work together to survive the cold winter. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews opined that “two captivating perspectives create a story of survival and humanity in the middle of a harsh winter and harrowing war.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Giff, Patricia Reilly, Don’t Tell the Girls: A Family Memoir, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 15, 1993, Kay Weisman, review of Meet the Lincoln Lions Band, p. 907; July, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Shark in School, p. 1947; December 1, 1994, Carolyn Phelan, review of Turkey Trouble, pp. 680-681; June 1, 1995, Kay Weisman, review of Look out, Washington, D.C.!, p. 1770; July, 1995, Julie Yates Walton, review of Ronald Morgan Goes to Camp, p. 1878; September 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, reviews of Dance with Rosie and Rosie’s Nutcracker Dreams, both p. 125; September 15, 1996, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Pet Parade, p. 238; December 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Starring Rosie, p. 726; May 1, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of Not-So-Perfect Rosie, p. 1493; October 1, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Glass Slipper for Rosie, p. 329; October 15, 1999, Barbara Baskin, review of Lily’s Crossing, p. 467; October 15, 2002, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Pictures of Hollis Woods, p. 404; September 15, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Maggie’s Door, p. 236; September 15, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of A House of Tailors, p. 244; March 1, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Don’t Tell the Girls, p. 1189; July, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of Willow Run, p. 1922; August 1, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Water Street, p. 74; December 1, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Eleven, p. 40; June 1, 2009, Carolyn Phelan, review of Wild Girl, p. 58; September 15, 2010, Lynn Rutan, review of Storyteller, p. 68; July 1, 2012, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Big Something, p. 69; November 1, 2012, Ilene Cooper, review of The Sneaky Snow Fox, p. 67, and Hazel Rochman, review of Hunter Moran Saves the Universe, p. 72; December 15, 2012, Carolyn Phelan, review of Gingersnap, p. 51; September 15, 2013, Kay Weisman, review of Hunter Moran Hangs Out, p. 69; December 15, 2013, Kay Weisman, review of Patti Cake and Her New Doll, p. 54; February 15, 2014, Gail Bush, review of Winter Sky, p. 83; September 1, 2014, Kay Weisman, review of Hunter Moran Digs Deep, p. 116; March 15, 2017, Carolyn Phelan, review of Genevieve’s War, p. 59.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, January 1, 1992, review of Diana: Twentieth-Century Princess, p. 125; July 1, 1995, review of Look out, Washington, D.C.!, pp. 383-84; October 1, 1996, review of Good Luck, Ronald Morgan, p. 59; April 1, 1997, Janice M. Del Negro, review of Lily’s Crossing, pp. 282-83; Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of Hunter Moran Saves the Universe, p. 83; April 1, 2013, Jeannette Hulick, review of Gingersnap, p. 377; January 1, 2014, Amy Atkinson, review of Winter Sky, p. 267.
Christian Science Monitor, November 29, 2010, Augusta Scattergood, review of Storyteller.
Horn Book, July 1, 1993, Maeve Visser Knoth, review of Next Year I’ll Be Special, p. 442; September 1, 1994, Maeve Visser Knoth, review of Shark in School, p. 611; March 1, 1997, Mary M. Burns, review of Lily’s Crossing, p. 198; November 1, 2001, Mary M. Burns, review of All the Way Home, pp. 747-48; January 1, 2003, Nell Beram, review of Pictures of Hollis Woods, p. 72; September 1, 2003, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Maggie’s Door, pp. 610-11; November 1, 2004, Peter D. Sieruta, review of A House of Tailors, pp. 707-08; September 1, 2005, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Willow Run, p. 577; September 1, 2006, Martha V. Parravano, review of Water Street, p. 583; January 1, 2008, Tanya D. Auger, review of Eleven, p. 86; September 1, 2009, Robin L. Smith, review of Wild Girl, p. 561; January 1, 2013, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Gingersnap, p. 80; September 1, 2015, Dean Schneider, review of Until I Find Julian, p. 102; May 1, 2017, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Genevieve’s War, p. 92; May 11, 2017, Roger Sutton, author interview.
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, May 1, 2010, Donna L. Miller, review of Wild Girl, p. 693.
Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 1992, review of Show Time at Polk Street, p. 1442; September 1, 1993, review of Next Year I’ll Be Special, p. 1143; October 15, 1998, review of Kidnap at the Catfish Café, p. 1531; March 15, 2005, review of Don’t Tell the Girls, p. 351; September 15, 2005, review of Willow Run, p. 1026; August 15, 2006, review of Water Street, p. 840; December 1, 2007, review of Eleven; July 15, 2009, review of Wild Girl; July 15, 2010, review of Number One Kid; August 15, 2010, review of Storyteller; March 1, 2011, review of Flying Feet; June 15, 2011, review of Star Time; February 15, 2012, review of Bears Beware; June 15, 2012, review of The Big Something; August 1, 2012, review of Hunter Moran Saves the Universe; November 1, 2012, review of The Sneaky Snow Fox; November 15, 2012, review of Gingersnap; August 15, 2013, review of Hunter Moran Hangs Out; December 1, 2013, reviews of Winter Sky and Patti Cake and Her New Doll; August 15, 2014, review of Hunter Moran Digs Deep; July 15, 2015, review of Until I Find Julian; June 1, 2016, review of Jubilee; September 15, 2018, review of Island War.
Kliatt, July 1, 2005, Phyllis LaMontagne, review of Nory Ryan’s Song, p. 20.
New York Times, February 3, 2008, Tammy La Gorce, “Placing Family First Hasn’t Held Children’s Author Back,” p. 8.
New York Times Book Review, May 18, 1997, Jane Langton, review of Lily’s Crossing, p. 24; October 1, 2001, review of All the Way Home, p. 1423; August 1, 2002, review of Pictures of Hollis Woods, pp. 129-30; October 1, 2004, review of A House of Tailors, p. 960.
Publishers Weekly, November 2, 1992, reviews of Meet the Lincoln Lions Band and Yankee Doodle Drumsticks, both p. 71; July 5, 1993, review of Next Year I’ll Be Special, p. 72; April 18, 1994, Sally Lodge, “The Author as Bookseller: Patricia Reilly Giff’s Career Comes Full Circle,” p. 26; October 7, 1996, review of Dance with Rosie, p. 76; January 20, 1997, review of Lily’s Crossing, p. 403; April 27, 1998, “On the Road with Patricia Reilly Giff,” p. 29; May 4, 1998, review of Love, from the Fifth Grade, p. 216; November 9, 1998, review of Kidnap at the Catfish Café, p. 77; July 24, 2000, review of Nory Ryan’s Song, p. 94; July 15, 2002, review of Pictures of Hollis Woods, pp. 74-75; August 25, 2003, review of Maggie’s Door, p. 65; November 1, 2004, review of A House of Tailors, p. 62; March 7, 2005, Sally Lodge, interview with Giff and review of Don’t Tell the Girls, p. 69; November 19, 2007, review of Eleven, p. 57; September 6, 2010, review of Storyteller, p. 40; May 21, 2012, review of The Big Something, p. 56; November 19, 2012, review of Gingersnap, p. 55; October 28, 2013, review of Winter Sky, p. 60; November 11, 2013, review of Patti Cake and Her New Doll, p. 69.
School Library Journal, January 1, 1992, April L. Judge, review of Diana, p. 102; September 1, 1994, Mary Ann Bursk, review of Shark in School, p. 184; June 1, 1995, Pamela K. Bomboy, review of Ronald Morgan Goes to Camp, p. 80; October 1, 1995, Maria Redburn, reviews of Ho, Ho, Benjamin, Feliz Navidad, p. 37, and Adios Anna, p. 38; March 1, 1996, Eunice Weech, review of Say Hola, Sarah, p. 174; August 1, 1996, Anne Parker, review of Pet Parade, p. 122; March 1, 1997, Eva Mitnick, review of Starring Rosie, p. 152; October 1, 1997, Suzanne Hawley, review of Next Stop, New York City!, pp. 95-96; December 1, 1997, Janet M. Bair, review of A Glass Slipper for Rosie, p. 90; January 1, 1999, Janie Schomberg, review of Mary Moon, p. 88; September 1, 2002, Jean Gaffney, review of Pictures of Hollis Woods, p. 225; September 1, 2003, Margaret R. Tassia, review of Maggie’s Door, p. 210; October 1, 2004, Barbara Auerbach, review of A House of Tailors, p. 165; July 1, 2005, Alison Follos, review of Don’t Tell the Girls, p. 116; September 1, 2005, Renee Steinberg, review of Willow Run, p. 204; September 1, 2006, Renee Steinberg, review of Water Street, p. 206; January 1, 2008, Alison Follos, review of Eleven, p. 118; August 1, 2009, Tracy Weiskind, review of Wild Girl, p. 103; August 1, 2010, Amanda Struckmeyer, reviews of Number One Kid and Big Whopper, both p. 76; November 1, 2010, Marie Orlando, review of Storyteller, p. 114; July, 2011, Amy Commers, review of Flying Feet, p. 67; January 1, 2013, Gloria Koster, review of The Big Something, p. 78; December 1, 2013, Maryann H. Owen, review of Patti Cake and Her New Doll, p. 94; January 1, 2014, Kerry Roeder, review of Winter Sky, p. 81; October 1, 2014, Heidi Grange, review of Hunter Moran Digs Deep, p. 104; July 1, 2015, Kira Moody, review of Until I Find Julian, p. 76; June 1, 2016, Erin Holt, review of Jubilee, p. 94; April 1, 2017, Juliet Morefield, review of Genevieve’s War, p. 139.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April 1, 2013, Amanda Fensch, review of Gingersnap, p. 660.
ONLINE
BookPage online, https://bookpage.com/ (November 1, 2004), Linda M. Castellitto, author interview.
Patch, https://patch.com/ (April 19, 2018), Jeanne Byington, “Patricia Reilly Giff Wins Christopher Award for ‘Genevieve’s War.'”
Publishers Weekly online, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (July 23, 2009), Sally Lodge, author interview.
Scholastic website, https://www.scholastic.com/ (December 28, 2018), Chris Borris, author interview.
Series
New Kids of Polk Street School
1. Watch Out! Man-eating Snake! (1988)
2. Fancy Feet (1988)
3. All About Stacy (1988)
4. B-E-S-T Friends (1988)
5. Spectacular Stone Soup (1900)
6. Stacy Says Good-bye (1989)
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Casey, Tracy And Company
1. Fourth-grade Celebrity (1979)
2. The Girl Who Knew It All (1979)
3. Left-Handed Shortstop (1980)
4. The Winter Worm Business (1981)
5. Love, From the Fifth Grade Celebrity (1986)
Rat Teeth (1984)
4th Grade Celebrity / Girl Who Knew It All (omnibus) (1999)
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Abby Jones, Junior Detective Mystery
1. Have You Seen Hyacinth Macaw (1981)
2. Loretta P Sweeny, Where Are You? (1983)
3. Tootsie Tanner, Why Don't You Talk (1990)
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Kids of the Polk Street School
1. The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room (1984)
2. Fish Face (1984)
3. The Candy Corn Contest (1984)
4. December Secrets (1984)
5. In the Dinosaur's Paw (1986)
6. The Valentine Star (1985)
7. Lazy Lions, Lucky Lambs (1985)
8. Snaggle Doodles (1985)
9. Purple Climbing Days (1985)
10. Say Cheese (1985)
11. Sunny-Side Up (1986)
12. Pickle Puss (1986)
13. The Beast and the Halloween Horror (1990)
14. Emily Arrow Promises to Do Better This Year (1990)
15. Monster Rabbit Runs Amuck! (1990)
16. Wake Up, Emily, It's Mother's Day (1991)
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Ronald Morgan
Watch Out, Ronald Morgan! (1985)
Happy Birthday, Ronald Morgan! (1986)
Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat (1988)
Good Luck, Ronald Morgan! (1996)
Ronald Morgan Goes to Camp (1999)
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Polka Dot Private Eye
1. The Mystery of the Blue Ring (1987)
2. The Riddle of the Red Purse (1987)
3. The Secret At the Polk Street School (1987)
4. The Powder Puff Puzzle (1987)
5. The Case of the Cool-Itch Kids (1989)
6. Garbage Juice for Breakfast (1994)
7. The Trail of the Screaming Teenager (1994)
8. The Clue At the Zoo (1990)
The Polk Street Mysteries, Books 1-4 (omnibus) (2012)
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Friends and Amigos
1. Adios, Anna (1998)
2. Say Hola, Sarah (1995)
3. Ho, Ho, Benjamin, Feliz Navidad (1995)
4. Happy Birthday, Anna Sorpresa! (1996)
5. Good Dog, Bonita (1996)
6. It's a Fiesta, Benjamin (1989)
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Lincoln Lions Band
1. Meet the Lincoln Lions Band (1992)
2. Yankee Doodle Drum Sticks (1992)
3. The Jingle Bells Jam (1992)
4. The Rootin' Tootin' Bugle Boy (1992)
5. The Great Shamrock Disaster (1993)
5. The Red, White, and Blue Valentine (1993)
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Polk Street Special
1. Write Up A Storm With The Polk Street School (1993)
2. Count Your Money with the Polk Street School (1994)
3. The Postcard Pest (1994)
4. Turkey Trouble (1994)
5. Show Time At The Polk Street School (1992)
6. Look Out, Washington, D.C.! (1995)
7. Green Thumbs, Everyone (1996)
8. Pet Parade (1996)
9. Next Stop, New York City! (1997)
10. Oh Boy, Boston! (1997)
11. Let's Go Philadelphia! (1998)
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Ballet Slippers
1. Dance with Rosie (1996)
2. Rosie's Nutcracker Dreams (1996)
3. Starring Rosie (1997)
4. Not-So-Perfect-Rosie (1997)
5. A Glass Slipper For Rosie (1997)
6. Rosie's Big City Ballet (1998)
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Lily's Crossing
1. Lily's Crossing (1997)
2. Willow Run (2005)
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Adventures of Minnie and Max
1. Kidnap At the Catfish Cafe (1998)
2. Mary Moon Is Missing (1998)
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Nory Ryan's Song
1. Nory Ryan's Song (2000)
2. Maggie's Door (2003)
3. Water Street (2006)
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Zigzag Kids
1. Number-One Kid (2010)
2. Big Whopper (2010)
3. Flying Feet (2011)
4. Star Time (2011)
5. Bears Beware! (2012)
6. Super Surprise (2012)
7. Sky High (2012)
8. Zigzag Zoom (2013)
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Fiercely and Friends
1. The Big Something (2012)
2. The Sneaky Snow Fox (2012)
3. The Garden Monster (2014)
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Hunter Moran
1. Saves the Universe (2012)
2. Hangs Out (2013)
3. Digs Deep (2014)
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Novels
Suspect (1982)
The Gift of the Pirate Queen (1982)
Trail Screaming Teen (1990)
All the Way Home (2001)
Pictures of Hollis Woods (2002)
A House of Tailors (2004)
Eleven (2008)
Wild Girl (2009)
Storyteller (2010)
R My Name Is Rachel (2011)
Gingersnap (2013)
Winter Sky (2014)
Until I Find Julian (2015)
Jubilee (2016)
Genevieve's War (2017)
Island War (2018)
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Picture Books
Next Year I'll Be Special (1980)
Today Was a Terrible Day (1980)
The Almost Awful Play (1984)
I Love Saturday (1989)
Soccer Song (2008)
Patti Cake and Her New Doll (2014)
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Chapter Books
Popcorn Contest (1986)
Matthew Jackson Meets the Wall (1990)
Poopsie Pomerantz, Pick Up Your Feet (1990)
The War Began At Supper (1991)
Shark in School (1994)
In the Dinosaur's Path (1996)
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Non fiction series
Women of Our Time
Mother Teresa (1980)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1987)
Diana (1992)
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Non fiction
Don't Tell the Girls (2005)
Writing with Rosie (2016)
Patricia Reilly Giff is the author of many beloved books for children, including the Newbery Honor books, Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. She lives in Trumbull, Connecticut.
Patricia Reilly Giff
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Patricia Reilly Giff (born April 26, 1935, Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American author and teacher. She was educated at Marymount College, where she was awarded a B.A. degree, and St. John's University, where she earned an M.A. and Hofstra University, where she was awarded a Professional Diploma in Reading and a Doctorate of Humane Letters.[1] After spending some twenty years as a full-time teacher, she began writing, specializing in children's literature. Giff now resides in Trumbull, Connecticut, along with her husband Jim and their three children. Giff's writing workshops have influenced other children's authors such as Tony Abbott and Elise Broach.[2]
Contents
1 Writing
1.1 Polk Street School series
1.2 Wild Girl
1.3 Lily's Crossing
1.4 Nory Ryan's Song
1.5 Pictures of Hollis Woods
1.6 Eleven
1.7 Genevieve's War
2 References
3 External links
Writing
Polk Street School series
Giff's series of children's books about the kids from Polk Street School has proven popular and won critical acclaim.[3] The stories revolve around second-grade teacher Ms. Rooney and the students in her class, in particular perpetual troublemaker Richard Best (nicknamed "Beast"), who is good at art but terrible at reading and Emily Arrow, who is good at math but also terrible at reading. Some novels in the series also feature Emily's younger sister Stacy as the central character.
Books in the series include:
The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room (1984) – Richard "Beast" Best must repeat his second-grade year, and between the teasing from his former classmates and having to take classes with "babies," his new school year is off to a miserable start.
Fish Face (1984) – Emily is excited to make friends with Dawna, the new girl from Florida, until a good-luck charm of Emily's is stolen and Emily discovers that Dawn is the thief. Made into a musical by ArtsPower.[4]
The Valentine Star (1985) – Emily reports her classmate Sherri for misbehaving in class, and Sherri vows revenge.
Lazy Lions, Lucky Lambs (1985) – Richard has trouble with a writing assignment, since writing is his worst subject.
Snaggle Doodles (1985) – Ms. Rooney assigns her students to groups to come up with inventions, and Emily clashes with Linda, the bossy leader of her group.
Purple Climbing Days (1985) – Richard struggles with rope-climbing in physical education class.
Say "Cheese" (1985) – Summer vacation is about to begin, but Emily is lonely and depressed because she doesn't have a best friend.
Sunny Side Up (1986) – Beast and his friends Emily and Matthew attend summer school.
Pickle Puss (1986) – Emily and her friend/rival Dawn compete in a book-reading contest to determine who will get to keep Pickle Puss, the stray cat they found.
The Candy Corn Contest (1987) – Mrs. Rooney offers a jar of candy corn as a prize for whoever correctly guesses the number of candies in the jar.
In the Dinosaur's Paw (1987) – Richard is convinced that the ruler he found in his desk has magical powers, and is mortified when it disappears
December Secrets (1987) – Emily is assigned the irritating class "crybaby," Jiliannel Simon, as a "secret pal" for the month of December.
Watch Out! Man-Eating Snake! (1988) – On the first day of school, Stacy tries to make friends with her classmate Jiwon, with disastrous results.
All About Stacy (1988) – Stacy tries to think of something special to go in her "About Me Box" project.
Fancy Feet (1988) – When Jiwon's pair of gold shoes disappears, the whole class accuses Stacy of stealing the shoes.
B-E-S-T Friends (1988) – Annie, the "weird" new girl in class, constantly irritates Stacy, but then Stacy is assigned to be her class partner.
Spectacular Stone Soup (1988) – Stacy begins a campaign to be more helpful, beginning with her class's Stone Soup project.
Garbage Juice for Breakfast (1989) – Dawn participates in a treasure hunt at summer camp.
The Case of the Cool Itch Kid (1989) – When some of Dawn's prized possessions turn up missing at summer camp, she suspects the students from a rival school of being thieves.
The Beast and the Halloween Horror (1990) – Beast finds himself in trouble after he fudges a letter-writing assignment.
Emily Arrow Promises to Do Better This Year (1990) – Emily makes a New Year's resolution she finds difficult to keep.
Monster Rabbit Runs Amuck! (1991) – Beast and his friend Matthew accidentally ruin a prop for the school spring assembly.
Look Out, Washington D.C.! (1995) – Ms. Rooney takes her class on a trip to the United States' capital city.
Next Stop, New York City! (1997) – Ms. Rooney takes her class on a trip to New York City.
Wild Girl
Wild Girl (2009) – Lidie leaves Brazil and she dreams of going to Queens, New York. But she discovers that a new world is a big challenge.
Lily's Crossing
Main article: Lily's Crossing
Awards: Newbery Honor Book 1998
Nory Ryan's Song
Main article: Nory Ryan's Song
Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults Book 2003
Pictures of Hollis Woods
Main article: Pictures of Hollis Woods
Awards: Newbery Honor Book 2003. Hollis is an abandoned orphan that is searching for a home.
Eleven
Eleven (2009) – Sam is almost 11 when he discovers a locked box in the attic above his grandfather Mack's room, and a piece of paper that says he was kidnapped. There are lots of other words, but Sam has always had trouble reading. He's desperate to find out who he is, and if his beloved Mack is really his grandfather.
Genevieve's War
Genevieve's War
Awards: Christopher Award 2018.[5]
Patricia Reilly Giff
Two-time Newbery Honor-winning author of such beloved novels as Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods
Patricia Reilly Giff is the two-time Newbery Honor-winning author of Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Her memorable array of novels and her background as a reading teacher makes her an ideal fit for speaking to groups of children and educators.
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ABOUT PATRICIA REILLY GIFF
Patricia Reilly Giff is a two-time Newbery Honor-winning novelist and a household name among educators, children, and parents. The respected author of over 60 books for young people and the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Newbery Honor Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Giff is a much-loved author who continues to provide generations of readers with heartwarming, humorous, and unforgettable novels to enjoy. Giff has been featured in national media outlets such as The New York Times and C-SPAN’s Book TV, and has been interviewed by numerous television, radio, and newspapers across the country. With over 16 million copies of her books sold, and 20 plus years of experience as a reading teacher and consultant, Giff brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the children’s literary world.
In 1990, Giff and her family opened up a children’s-only bookstore in Fairfield, CT called The Dinosaur’s Paw, which has became a staple in the community. Giff also teaches a creative writing class out of the store, which has resulted in a number of published novels for first-time authors. Fans can follow Pat on her blog at www.patriciareillygiff.com.
A dynamic, warm, and memorable speaker, Giff has spent years speaking at schools, libraries, bookstores, and conferences across the country, where she shares her personal story of how she became a writer, her writing process, and more.
Giff resides in Trumbull, CT with her husband, Jim. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
Patricia Reilly Giff Talks with Roger
MAY 11, 2017 BY ROGER SUTTON LEAVE A COMMENT
Talks with Roger is a sponsored supplement to our free monthly e-newsletter, Notes from the Horn Book. To receive Notes, sign up here.
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Holiday House
While already beloved for her popular and iconic Polk Street School chapter book series, Pat Giff surprised everyone in 1997 with Lily’s Crossing, a stand-alone historical novel about the WWII home front that would go on to win both Newbery and Boston Globe–Horn Book honors. Twenty years and several equally well-received novels later, Giff returns to the same time period — but this time the story is about an American girl who finds herself in France as the war breaks out.
Roger Sutton: I think that a kid who’s read Lily’s Crossing will bring a particular resonance to reading Genevieve’s War — two girls, same war, on opposite sides of the ocean.
Patricia Reilly Giff: Certainly I was very young, but I do remember the Second World War home front, which was the setting of Lily’s Crossing. I had French friends who were a little bit older than I, who actually went through the war, and that was an entirely different situation. And with Alsace, of course, the Germans did not believe they were at war. They believed they were taking part of their country back.
RS: Genevieve is older than Lily, right?
PRG: Yes. Genevieve starts out at age thirteen — Lily was ten or eleven. But the story continues throughout the war, so she ends up in 1944 when France is liberated, and then in 1945, to be about eighteen years old. It was unusual for me to do that. Usually I stick to a very close time frame in my books. But I wanted to show all that happened, all the changes. The people had to go back to the German street names. They were not allowed to wear French berets. All of that was so interesting to me, and I hope kids will be interested in reading about it, too.
RS: Well, I sure was. I didn’t know anything about what had gone on there. What was also interesting to me was the relative peace in which Genevieve and her grandmother lived for much of the time.
PRG: Yes, and that I know is true. When I was a young woman I had a friend who was a much older Alsatian woman. She had been born in Pfaffenhausen and later became an American citizen. But when her husband died, she went back to Alsace and was there during the war. She told me that anybody who had been born there before the First World War was considered German. And then after the First World War they were French, and then back to German again. I was very interested in the dynamics of this situation. She also told me that they had to be so careful not to express any opinion in front of the children, because they were then asked in school whether their families were on the side of the French or the Germans.
I myself was terrified during the Second World War. The war started when I was six, and I was so sure that we were going to be bombed and killed. And yet my French friend, who was older, said in the heart of it they lost that fear. They became used to it. They grew up with it, whereas in my imagination—which my sister always says is my biggest plus and my worst minus…
RS: Mine tends to go apocalyptic at the wrong time, too.
PRG: Yes. Those of us who love reading have that tendency.
RS: We know where you started with this story. But I’ve just read Writing with Rosie, your book for children about writing, and you don’t outline, correct?
PRG: I do not.
RS: It’s interesting, because the book starts at the end. It circles around. How much did you know going in of what you were going to tell?
PRG: That’s an interesting question. Richard Peck taught me something years ago. He said that he writes to maybe chapter ten, and by that time he knows more and starts over again. That really resonated with me. So the first chapter that you see, which is the war, didn’t get written until the end of the book. It came much later. I was studying. I was researching what happened in Alsace. When you look at books about the Second World War, you read about Paris, but there’s not a lot about Alsace. Tomi Ungerger wrote a wonderful book about it [Tomi: A Childhood under the Nazis]. At my local library, which I love — the Trumbull Library — one librarian, Walter, became interested and managed to find me two books on Alsace written in 1915.
RS: Wow.
PRG: Which gave me the Klapperstein scene. When people gossiped, they had to wear a stone around their neck. Really. This is history.
RS: Our entire profession would sink into the ocean.
PRG: You are so right. There are no secrets that can be kept for very long.
RS: Do you keep researching as you write, or do you say, okay, I’m done researching? Because I’d be afraid once I started writing I’d find out more and have to change everything.
PRG: And you do. You do.
RS: What a pain in the ass.
PRG: Yes. I did keep reading what I could. I also went back and forth to look at the border areas. One of my writing students found someone who grew up in Alsace after the war, so I talked to her and asked her questions, because I was so worried about making a mistake.
RS: We’re all worried about that these days.
PRG: Yes. But actually, making a mistake in a book — years ago, with Lily’s Crossing, I said you could see the ocean from the bay, which I believed, because I lived in St. Albans, and we spent half our lives in Rockaway. So I wasn’t researching, because I thought I knew. And then someone who was on the Newbery committee told me that that was brought up as an error, and luckily someone else said, “Oh, get a grip. This is fiction.” That scares me when I’m writing, because something you always believed really might not have been true.
RS: I think that the setting you chose, in Alsace, is perhaps more relatable to American kids today than the danger and glamour of Paris during the war. It’s a pretty ordinary life Genevieve lives there with her grandmother.
PRG: My main focus, really, was on the relationships that Genevieve had. Not knowing where her brother was. Making herself go back to the grandmother she didn’t like. A friend who she believed betrayed her. The boy she falls in love with. All of those relationships seemed to be accessible to kids.
RS: There’s a lot in there, too, about people making mistakes, wondering if something was the right thing to do — like when she decides she’s not going to leave France, and she runs back to her grandmother. You can imagine a whole other story had she gotten on that train. Those are the sorts of dilemmas that kids have all the time. We all do, right?
PRG: Yes, everyone does. As we get older we have more options, because we’ve been through so many things. But for kids, the idea of doing the right thing is important.
RS: It can feel very life-or-death. You and I as old people know that, actually, a lot isn’t life-or-death.
PRG: I just told this story to my granddaughter, who is agonizing over a project for school. When I was in school I had to draw a bird and label the parts. I was crying because my art was terrible, and my mother said to me, “Will this matter in two years?” That was such a moment for me. Many times in my life I’ve been upset about something and said to myself, “Will this matter in two years?” Not even in two months.
RS: Sometimes not even tomorrow.
PRG: Yes. So, I’m still writing in my old age, Roger. And still loving it. It fills my days. Writing is my salvation. I just get up in the morning, and I’m in this world that I scratch out and begin again and write over — and then suddenly it’s lunchtime, and I’m back.
RS: How does it feel — I think about this a lot, now that I approach my dotage — when I think about the changes in children’s books today from those in the late seventies, which is when I started.
PRG: Which is when I started too.
RS: What’s it like for you now? Do you feel like a grande dame? Do you feel more relaxed? Do you feel more competitive? Less competitive?
PRG: Competition’s never really entered into writing for me, because it’s such a joy. I was a teacher, a reading teacher, working with kids who had such terrible problems, who were angry and serving life sentences in prison. What I think of sometimes, as I read the new books — do kids really need to see such a seamy side of life? I’m in the minority, such an old woman, perhaps. I love The Penderwicks. I love the books that have given kids joy, that give them hope at the end. Sometimes it seems to me the books right now are very depressive. Do you think that at all?
RS: I do. Sometimes the books seem like more of a downer than they used to. They can go blacker. They can go bleaker. But then if you look back at the reception of The Outsiders, for example, people said the same thing.
PRG: Yes, I hadn’t thought of that. You’re absolutely right.
RS: So I think only time is going to tell whether things have actually gotten darker, or if we’re just observing the field from a certain elderly perspective!
PRG: And children are more sophisticated now. Their schooling — I’m amazed at the difference. Think about when we went to college. It seemed to me what I studied at Marymount was more of what the high school kids are doing today. They see so much more — the internet, even television. We didn’t have television when I was growing up, until I was twelve or thirteen. I think you can’t go back. Many of them seem so much more confident. I was shy, and I had Catholic nuns throughout my schooling, who were very tough, let me tell you that.
RS: Did the nuns try with you, as they did with me, to convince you that Easter was more important than Christmas? Which it is, theologically.
PRG: Yes, because that was the miracle.
RS: But there were no presents.
PRG: So you had the nuns too?
RS: I did not go to Catholic school, but we had CCD every week.
PRG: Yes, oh, yes. I had the nuns. I grew up in a very repressive childhood.
RS: You know, I sort of pity these kids who grow up today without a religion, even though their parents could be the most wonderful in the world. You need to have something to react against.
PRG: Yes. And comfort. After my son died recently, it certainly helped to have some feeling of religion. Although God knows my Catholicism is not what it was.
RS: Yeah, but it’s always with one, isn’t it?
PRG: I don’t think you can get rid of it.
Patricia Reilly Giff wins Christopher Award for "Genevieve's War"
The book, by this Trumbull-based author, is one of 12 to receive an award at the 69th annual gala on May 19th in NYC.
By Jeanne Byington, Patch Contributor | Apr 19, 2018 6:02 pm ET
0
This post was contributed by a community member.
Patricia Reilly Giff, Trumbull, Conn.-based author, has won a Christopher Award for "Genevieve's War," (Ages 8 and up, Holiday House Publishing). It is one of 12 books for adults and young people by 19 authors and illustrators to be celebrated on May 17, 2018 at the 69th annual Christopher Awards in New York along with the writers, producers and directors of 9 feature films and TV/Cable programs.
The book is about a 13 year old American girl's vacation at her grandmother's farm as World War II erupts in 1939 Alsace, France. It takes an ominous turn when the Nazi occupation leaves her in dangerous circumstances that test her character and sense of personal responsibility. A frightening German officer commandeers a room in her grandmother's farmhouse and when Gen's friend Remi commits an act of sabotage, she is forced to hide him in the attic—right above the Nazi officer's head. Genevieve also learns about trust, judgment, first impressions and love.
Giff has written many acclaimed books for children that have appeared on the New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestsellers lists, among others. Her works include the timeless "Lily's Crossing," a Newbery Honor Book and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book; "Pictures of Hollis Woods," a Newbery Honor Book; and "Nory Ryan's Song," an American Library Association [ALA] Notable Children's Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and a Golden Kite Honor Book.
Her books for younger readers include the bestselling "Kids of the Polk Street School" series and the "Ronald Morgan" books. Pat's most recent books, published by Holiday House, include the "Hunter Moran" series and the nonfiction "Writing with Rosie: You Can Write a Story Too."
The Christopher Awards were created in 1949 to celebrate authors, illustrators, writers, producers and directors whose work "affirms the highest values of the human spirit." The Christophers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. The ancient Chinese proverb—"It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness"— guides its publishing, radio, and awards programs. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.
Author Q&A: Patricia Reilly Giff
By Chris Borris
Newbery Honor–winning author Patricia Reilly Giff brings her 20 years of teaching to bear in many of her books.
Grades
PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8
FROM
From the first time she picked up a book, says Patricia Reilly Giff, she wanted to write stories—but it wasn’t until 30-some years later that the two-time Newbery Honor–winning author started in earnest. “A snowy day and a husband who built a writing room from two skinny closets made me begin at last,” she has explained. That doesn’t mean Giff wasn’t immersed in books before picking up her pen one wintry day. She was a reading teacher for 20 years—she wrote her first books, the Kids of the Polk Street School series, for her remedial students—and teachers invariably pop up in her stories. Her newest, Jubilee, about a girl who becomes mute after her mother leaves her, features two concerned educators. “In Jubilee, I paid homage to the psychologist in the school where I taught. He was so understanding, so in tune with children. He actually did magic tricks, which we loved. The impact he had on children and teachers was enormous.”
Q | Jubilee’s journey, in which she has to reconnect with her mother before she can come back to those who loved her all along, is not an easy one. Was the story based on children you’ve known?
A | I’ve worked with so many children who have had hard lives and who were angry or sad; I wanted to give them joy through my stories, to show them characters who grow and become happy. I thought about writing Jubilee for a long time. I have taught children who never spoke. Their faces were so unhappy that even after all this time I wonder about them.
Q | Does Jubilee have to save something else (the dog) before she can save herself?
A | I’m not sure about that. My mother used to say, “Everyone has something.” This is what I always told the children I taught, so I focused on Jubilee’s recognition of her own worth. And that worth was to reach out to find friendship, and to savor the love other people had for her.
Q | Both Jubilee and Hollis (from Newbery winner Pictures of Hollis Woods) make sense of the world through drawing. Why did you give two of your main characters this quality?
A | In drawing, as in writing, or love of music, we show our vision of the world. Perhaps I chose art for Hollis because my father was an artist, and I still see him bent over his work, absorbed and happy. I chose cartooning for Jubilee because many of my remedial students loved to draw, and I wanted to give her that joy.
Q | Your books feature both caring and uncaring teachers. Jubilee’s Ms. Quirk is very kind, in contrast to the frustrated, unkind teacher in Hollis Woods.
A | We want to be perfect teachers, yet often we fail. Maybe I wanted to hold up a mirror to show ourselves at our best and worst, and the difference that makes in children’s lives.
Q | What are some of the teaching moments you remember best?
A | I loved teaching! I remember the remedial kids slamming down the hall, so often coming into my room angry. I wanted to make class a haven. One of my fourth graders had to read a book for a report. He chose a book that was totally over his head. Desperate, I agreed. He knew about two words on each page, so I kept supplying more as fast as I could. And then he knew three, then four, and by the end, he knew most of the words, and had a sense of what the story was about. When he finished, he ran down the hall, yelling, “You have the power!” I yelled back, “No, you do!” There was such joy in his voice that I remembered it all through my teaching years. But did I make mistakes? I remember them, too, with sorrow.
Q | How can teachers get kids to tell their stories?
A | My own story: When I taught, a wonderful woman babysat for my children. She did more than that. She made terrific breakfasts for my husband, a coat for my daughter, curtains for the kitchen. She was perfect. Why couldn’t I be more like her? One morning, I took a piece of paper and wrote, “I hate Sheila.” It was so terrible, so satisfying! Of course, I ripped the paper in pieces, but I thought about how much I had loved writing it. So I did something like that with my remedial students. “Write anything you want,” I said, “and no one has to see what you wrote.” “Anything?” a boy asked gleefully. And so that’s what we did. I can imagine what their first writings were like. But later they began to show me their work...just as I was beginning to show my husband mine.
Q | Do you still do readings at schools or work with teachers?
A | Sometimes, though not as often as I used to. But I’ve given writing classes for adults for many years, and plenty of my students are teachers or librarians. I’ve been so happy doing that.
Q | Name three books all early-elementary teachers should have kids read (or have read to them).
A | How could I choose three? What I’d like to say instead is that it is important for teachers to read to their students every day, from a variety of forms and genres. Children will listen to anything we read, and it wonderfully expands their worlds. I recommend Mo Willems, Louise Borden, and Matt de la Peña (Last Stop on Market Street). I remember reading The Year of Billy Miller, by Kevin Henkes, and thinking what a lovely story it was. Please don’t forget poetry.
Q | And middle-grade books?
A | I’d like to see shelves filled with a variety of books: fiction, history, biography, and, again, poetry, please. I’d hope that picture books are part of the selection, and that teachers wouldn’t specify books be more than 100 pages. Authors I love? Richard Peck, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Patricia MacLachlan, and Katherine Paterson, of course.
Q | Can you talk about various stages of your writing life?
A | I wanted to make my students laugh, and from that came the Kids of the Polk Street School series. But then the wonderful publisher Craig Virden said he believed I had a serious book in me. And so I began, tentatively at first, and soon loved writing seriously. Lily’s Crossing was my first, which Craig ended up publishing!
Q | What is your next book?
A | There’s always a book in my head or on the computer. Writing is as necessary as breathing to me. Sometimes I play with two [ideas] at once. My love is historical fiction, so that’s where I’m going right now.
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Photo: J. Pszenica
Giff, Patricia Reilly: ISLAND WAR
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Giff, Patricia Reilly ISLAND WAR Holiday House (Children's Fiction) $16.99 10, 2 ISBN: 978-0-8234-3954-6
Two American youth evade capture by the Japanese soldiers who invade the remote Aleutian island they live on just as the U.S. enters World War II.
After her father's death, 12-year-old Izzy is eager to visit the quiet, mysterious island that he wrote about in his books. Matt is bitter about being forced to move to the island with his gruff and irritable father, who has a secret job for the U.S. government. Having a few run-ins with each other on the boat and island, Izzy and Matt aren't getting along and plan to stay out of each other's way. But shortly after the U.S. declares war on Japan, their isolated U.S. territory is invaded by Japanese soldiers. Everyone is captured and taken to Japan except for Izzy and Matt. They must learn to work together to survive the island's harsh winter and the war. Told in the alternating first-person voices of Izzy and Matt, this is a compelling story about putting differences aside and finding the strength within. As she did in Genevieve's War (2017), Giff captures how quickly war can overturn ordinary life and poses the idea that enemies are also human. Both Izzy and Matt present white; the children's friendships with two local kids give readers an outsider's introduction to the Aleut culture.
Two captivating perspectives create a story of survival and humanity in the middle of a harsh winter and harrowing war. (Historical fiction. 8-12)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Giff, Patricia Reilly: ISLAND WAR." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A553948877/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0a582f9c. Accessed 17 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A553948877
Genevieve's War
Susan Dove Lempke
The Horn Book Magazine. 93.3 (May-June 2017): p92.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
Genevieve's War
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Intermediate Holiday 223 pp. g 4/17 978-0-8234-3800-6 $16.95
Thirteen-year-old Genevieve is anxious to end her visit with her stern grandmother, Meme, in Alsace, but when she notices that Meme is trying to disguise an injury, she impulsively gives up her planned return to America. A few months later, France falls to the Nazis, and grandmother and granddaughter scramble to hide their food and valuables when the German soldiers begin to arrive. They also help hide Genevieve's new friend Remy, who has accidentally burned himself in an act of sabotage against the Nazis. Much of the interest here comes from the story's setting, in an area where the residents are a mix of people with German and French names and loyalties. Genevieve is initially naive, blurting things out recklessly, but learns gradually that the motives of the various townspeople may not be what they seem at first and that the consequences can be terrible. Like Giffs Newbery Honor-winning Lily's Crossing (rev. 3/97), this story makes the human dynamics of World War II engaging and understandable to middle-grade readers. The book begins dramatically, with Genevieve and Meme in the cellar while bombs are falling, and never reaches that level of excitement again; but today's readers may find the presentation of the Resistance especially compelling. SUSAN DOVE LEMPKE
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Lempke, Susan Dove. "Genevieve's War." The Horn Book Magazine, May-June 2017, p. 92. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A492995611/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c7606447. Accessed 17 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A492995611
Genevieve's War
Carolyn Phelan
Booklist. 113.14 (Mar. 15, 2017): p59.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Genevieve's War.
By Patricia Reilly Giff. Illus. by Becca Stadtlander.
Apr. 2017. 240p. Holiday, $16.95 (9780823438006); e-book, $16.95 (9780823437986). Gr. 4-6.
Giff explored WWII on the home front in Lily's Crossing (1997), Willow Run (2005), and Gingersnap (2014), and her latest places an American girl in the crucible of war-torn Europe. After spending the summer of 1939 in Alsace with Meme, her stern grandmother, 13-year-old Genevieve intends to return to America before the Germans invade France. Instead, for reasons she doesn't entirely understand, she decides to stay and help Meme on her farm. German soldiers occupy the area, deporting Jewish residents and housing an officer in Meme's farmhouse. Genevieve and her grandmother hide their food, their family treasures, and, later, their friend Remy, a boy from the village who is hunted by the Nazis. Resistance is not a new idea to the people of Alsace, and soon it becomes a way of life for Genevieve as well. Giff accomplishes a great deal in this engaging chapter book: the vivid picture of life in occupied Alsace, the convincing portrayal of a girl growing up quickly in difficult times, and the gradual replacement of Genevieve's antipathy for her grandmother with respect and love. More accessible to middle-grade children than most novels set in Europe during the period, this novel is full of hardship, peril, and quiet heroism.--Carolyn Phelan
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Phelan, Carolyn. "Genevieve's War." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2017, p. 59. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490998572/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ea1598aa. Accessed 17 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A490998572
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Genevieve's War
Juliet Morefield
School Library Journal. 63.4 (Apr. 2017): p139+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
GIFF, Patricia Reilly. Genevieve's War. 240p. Holiday House. Mar. 2017. Tr $16.95. ISBN 9780823438006.
Gr 4-6--It's 1939. Genevieve and her brother are spending the summer on their grandmother's farm in Alsace, France, near the German border on the eve of World War II. It's Genevieve's first time meeting her grandmother, whom she finds difficult. It's a precarious time to be in France, with the prospect of war looming. To further complicate things, Genevieve has a ticket on what is said to be the last boat leaving for the United States. Despite her reservations about her grandmother, she impulsively decides to stay with her, without realizing what her life will become. Shortly afterward, German soldiers occupy the area. Everyone must go by German names and speak German, and Genevieve and her family are forced to house a Nazi soldier. The upcoming years are a transformative time for both Genevieve and her grandmother as they struggle to survive and help others throughout the war. This companion to Lily's Crossing is best suited for strong readers. Orienting to the politically charged setting and understanding the convoluted set of circumstances that have placed Genevieve in the middle of a war make the first section of the novel a little overwhelming. By the second half, the book becomes more plot-focused and easier to follow. The Nazi occupation and looming uncertainty about who can be trusted result in a suspenseful read. The narrative spans the whole length of the war, and Giff skillfully takes Genevieve from an impulsive H-year-old to a thoughtful and compassionate young woman; there is crossover appeal to a YA audience. A basic familiarity with the Second World War and with the Alsace region, or some research while reading, will deepen children's comprehension of the work. VERDICT A well-crafted look at how World War II impacted civilians, with great potential for classroom use.-Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, OR
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Morefield, Juliet. "Giff, Patricia Reilly. Genevieve's War." School Library Journal, Apr. 2017, p. 139+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A488688230/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1c5f5085. Accessed 17 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A488688230