- Jacquelyn Mitchard
Infobox Writer
imagesize = 150px
name = Jacquelyn Mitchard
caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1951|12|10|mf=y
birthplace = Chicago,Illinois , flag|USA
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Novelist
nationality = American
period = 1996 - present
genre =
subject =
movement =
debut_works = "The Deep End of the Ocean"
influenced =
website = http://www.jackiemitchard.com/
footnotes =Jacquelyn Mitchard (b. 12/10/1951,
Chicago ) is author of the best-selling novel "The Deep End of the Ocean ", which was the first selection forOprah's Book Club . Other books by Mitchard include "The Breakdown Lane", "Twelve Times Blessed", "Christmas, Present", "A Theory of Relativity ", "The Most Wanted" , "Cage of Stars " and "Still Summer".Born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, Mitchard is the daughter of a plumber and a retail clerk. She studied creative writing for three semesters under Mark Costello (author of "The Murphy Stories") at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . She became a newspaper reporter in 1976, eventually achieving a position as lifestyle columnist for the "Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel " newspaper. Her weekly column, "The Rest of Us," appeared in 125 newspapers nationwide until she retired it in 2007. Mitchard also regularly writes for "Wondertime,Ladies' Home Journal ,Reader's Digest ,Good Housekeeping , Parade" and other publications.Her first novel "
The Deep End of the Ocean ", was named in 2007 as one of the ten most influential books of the past 25 years. It has been Mitchard's only #1New York Times Bestseller , for 21 weeks in 1996, but all of her other novels have been bestsellers as well as garnering critical acclaim- particularly for "The Most Wanted", "Cage of Stars" and "The Breakdown Lane". "The Most Wanted" was nominated for Britain'sOrange Prize for Fiction and "Cage of Stars" for Britain's Spread The Word Prize.Mitchard recently began writing books for children and young adults.
Her first children's picture book, "Baby Bat's Lullaby", appeared in 2004 from HarperChildren's. Her two middle-grade novels, also published by HarperChildren's, "Starring Prima!: The Mouse of the Ballet Jolie", and "Rosalie, My Rosalie: The Tale of a Duckling" appeared in 2004 and 2005. Her second children's picture book, "Ready, Set , School!" appeared in 2007.
"Now You See Her", Mitchard's first Young Adult novel, was published in 2007, by HarperTeen. "All We Know of Heaven" (HarperTeen) appears in Spring, 2008, and the first in a series of Young Adult mysteries, "The Midnight Twins" (Razorbill/Penguin), based on the bewildering clairvoyant gift of twins Mallory and Meredith Brynn, debuts in Summer, 2008.
A sought-after essayist, Mitchard's essays have appeared in "Choice: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood and Abortion", edited by Karen E. Bender and Nina de Gramont (McAdam Cage, 2007), "Altared:Bridezillas, Bewilderment, Big Love, Breakups and What Women Really Think About Contemporary Weddings",edited by Collen Curran (Vintage, 2007), "My Father Married Your Mother", edited by Anne Burt (W.W. Norton, 2006), "Mr. Wrong: Real Life Stories About Men We Used to Love", edited by Harriet Brown (Ballantine, 2007) and "A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents", edited by Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe (Riverhead, 2005).
Hoping to create a place for women and men in disadvantaged circumstances created by divorce or widowhood, in 2007, Mitchard founded One Writer's Place, a residence dedicated to healing through creativity. Details about qualifying and applying for a residence at One Writer's Place can be found on her website. [http://www.jacquelynmitchard.com/ Jacquelyn Mitchard's official website]
Mitchard lives south of
Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, Christopher Brent and their seven children: Rob, Dan, Marty, Francie, Mia, Will and Atticus.Bibliography
For Adults
*
The Deep End of the Ocean
*The Most Wanted
*Still Summer
*Cage of Stars
*The Breakdown Lane
*A Theory of Relativity
*Christmas, Present
*Twelve Times Blessed For Young Adults
*
Now You See Her
*All We Know of Heaven
*The Midnight Twins For Children
*
*
*Baby Bat's Lullaby
*ready Set, School! External links
* [http://www.jacquelynmitchard.com/ Jacquelyn Mitchard's official website]
* [http://www.harpercollins.com/author/index.aspx?authorid=20846 A profile of Jacquelyn Mitchard]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
