Name Carolyn Coman Role Writer | Education Hampshire College | |
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Books What Jamie Saw, Many Stones, The Memory Bank, Bee and Jacky, Tell me everything Similar People Naomi Mitchison, Bart Moeyaert, John Newbery |
Carolyn Coman: Writing Stories
Carolyn Coman (born October 28, 1951) is an American writer best known for children's books. Her novels What Jamie Saw (1995) and Many Stones (2000) were among the runners-up for major annual awards by the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Book Foundation.
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Coman was born in Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago. She worked as a bookbinder 1975-84 and later as an editor with Heinemann before she became a full-time writer. She edited Body and Soul, a photo-portrait documentary by Judy Dater, and wrote the text of a children's picture book, prior to completing four young-adult novels from 1993 to 2000. Her novels for middle-grade readers (2004 and 2007) combine humour, investigation and a sense of nostalgia.
In the YA novels, "She explores the darker sides of growing up: dealing with parent's abandonment through death in Tell Me Everything, abuse by a stepparent in What Jamie Saw, sibling incest in Bee and Jacky and a political-inspired tragedy in Many Stones." Many Stones was inspired by the murder of Amy Biehl.
What Jamie Saw (1995) was Newbery Medal honor book and a National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist. Many Stones (2000) was a Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and another National Book Award finalist. (From 1922 the ALA Newbery Medal recognizes the previous year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children", with some designated runners-up now called "Honor Books". From 2000 the Newbery and Printz separately recognize books for "children" and "teens".)
Coman has two children and lives in South Hampton, New Hampshire.