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Bette Greene

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Nationality
  
American

Education
  
Role
  
Author

Name
  
Bette Greene

Signature
  

Bette Greene dgrassetscomauthors1303234890p511188jpg

Born
  
Bette Jean Evensky June 28, 1934 (age 90) Memphis, Tennessee, USA (
1934-06-28
)

Occupation
  
Genre
  
Children's fiction, young-adult fiction

Movies
  
Summer of My German Soldier

Awards
  
John Newbery Medal, Golden Kite Award for Fiction

Nominations
  
National Book Award for Children's Books, Lambda Literary Award for Children's/Young Adult

Books
  
Summer of my German Soldier, Philip Hall Likes Me - I Reckon, Morning is a Long Time Co, The Drowning of Stepha, Get on out of here - Philip Hall

Similar People
  
Esther Rolle, Linda Gottlieb, John Newbery

Bette greene american classic novelist


Bette Greene (born June 28, 1934) is the author of several books for children and young adults, including Summer of My German Soldier, The Drowning of Stephan Jones, and the Newbery Honor book Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe. She currently resides in Florida.

Contents

Greene was raised in Parkin, Arkansas, where she stuck out as a Jewish girl in the American South during the Great Depression and World War II. Her books focus on themes of injustice and alienation. Her book, Summer of My German Soldier, is based heavily on her childhood.

Bette Greene Faces Bullying - October National Bullying Prevention Month


Biography

Greene was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Arthur Evensky and Sadie (née Steinberg), but was raised in the small city of Parkin, Arkansas, where her parents ran the general store. Her maternal grandparents were Hyman and Tillie Steinberg who had a successful general store in Wynne, Arkansas. As a Jewish girl in a town of Christian fundamentalists, she experienced discrimination and learned what it was like to be an outsider. Since her parents spent a lot of time in their store, Greene was raised mainly by her family's African-American housekeeper, Ruth, who served as the model for the character of the same name in Summer of My German Soldier.

Just before Greene entered high school, her family returned to Memphis. Although she began writing for newspapers during her high school years and even won first prize in a local essay contest, she received poor grades in English because of her difficulties with spelling and punctuation. After graduation, she spent a year studying in Paris, France, an experience that would later serve as the background for Morning Is a Long Time Coming. After a year abroad, she returned to Memphis and became a reporter for United Press International.

After taking classes at several colleges, Greene enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, where she focused on writing and astronomy. After graduation she worked as a part-time journalist and a public information officer before marrying physician Donald Sumner Greene and moving with him to Boston; the couple have two grown children. It was after the birth of her daughter Carla that Greene began to write Summer of My German Soldier. The novel took five years to complete; after two more years spent searching for a publisher and eighteen rejections, the book was published by Dial Press in 1973.

Awards

Summer Of My German Soldier

  • 1973 Golden Kite Award
  • New York Times Outstanding Book Award
  • ALA Notable Book Award
  • National Book Award Finalist
  • Massachusetts Children’s Book Award
  • Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe

  • 1975 Newbery Honor
  • New York Times Outstanding Book Award
  • New York Times Outstanding Title Award
  • ALA Notable Children’s Book Award
  • Child Study Association Children’s Book Award
  • Kirkus Choice Award
  • Them That Glitter and Them that Don’t

  • Parent’s Choice Award, Parent’s Choice Foundation.
  • Writings

  • Summer of My German Soldier, Dial (New York, NY), 1973, reprinted, 2003.
  • Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe, illustrated by Charles Lilly, Dial (New York, NY), 1974.
  • Morning Is a Long Time Coming (sequel to Summer of My German Soldier), Dial (New York, NY), 1978.
  • Them That Glitter and Them That Don't, Knopf (New York, NY), 1983.
  • The Drowning of Stephan Jones, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.
  • Get on out of Here, Philip Hall, Dial (New York, NY), 1981, Reprinted, Puffin (New York, NY), 1999.
  • I've Already Forgotten Your Name, Philip Hall!, Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.
  • Other

  • Contributor of articles to periodicals.
  • Short fiction has been included in anthologies.
  • Creator of Bette Greene Teaches Writing (interactive instructional videos), Christy Johnson Productions, 1999.
  • Author's papers are housed in a permanent collection at the Kerlan Collection, University of Minnesota.
  • Adaptations

    Summer of My German Soldier was adapted as a television movie starring Kristy McNichol, Bruce Davison, and Esther Rolle and broadcast by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC-TV), 1978; The file was also released as a filmstrip by Miller-Brody Productions in 1979.

    A new musical version of the novel with music and lyrics written in collaboration between Bette Greene, David Brush, and Jim Farley, opened in Ohio in August 2003, staged by Encore Theater Company. Summer of My German Soldier has also been released on audio-cassette.

    Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe was adapted into a filmstrip by Miller-Brody Productions in 1979. Both books have also been released on audiocassette. The Drowning of Stephan Jones was optioned as a film by Telling Pictures.

    References

    Bette Greene Wikipedia


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