Occupation Attorney, Author Name Janet McDonald | Role Writer | |
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Born August 10, 1953
Brooklyn, United States ( 1953-08-10 ) Genre Young adult fiction, Memoir Died April 11, 2007, Paris, France Awards John Steptoe New Talent Award Books Project Girl, Harlem Hustle, Chill Wind, Twists and turns, Off‑Color | ||
Attorney & Writer: Favorites - Janet McDonald Career Girls Role Model
Janet McDonald (August 10, 1953 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer of young adult novels as well as the author of Project Girl, a memoir about her early life in the Brooklyn projects and struggle to achieve an Ivy League education. Her best known children's book is Spellbound, which tells the story of a teenaged mother who wins a spelling competition and a college scholarship. The book was named as the American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults in 2002.
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In addition to books, McDonald also wrote articles for publications such as Slate, including one in which she paid psychic Sylvia Browne $700 for a telephone reading. McDonald was a member of Mensa, the high IQ society.
Biography
After graduating from Vassar (1977), Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (1984), and New York University Law School (1986), McDonald practiced law in New York City (1986–89) and Seattle (1989–91). She took a position as an intern at a Paris law firm (1991–93) before moving to Olympia, Washington, to work in the Attorney General's office and teach French language classes at Evergreen State College. McDonald settled in Paris in 1995 to work first as an international attorney and then as a writer, until she died of cancer in 2007.