Carl Deuker

Carl Deuker is an award-winning author of young adult novels. His first novel, "On the Devil's Court", was published in 1989. Born in San Francisco on August 26, 1950, to Jack Deuker and Marie Milligan Deuker, Carl now lives in Seattle which serves as the setting for most of his work. He currently works at Shelton View Elementary School in Bothell.

Deuker's books are aimed at middle-school to high school audiences. Typically, he uses a sports context to explore socially important issues. For example, "Heart of a Champion" deals with teenage alcohol abuse, "Painting the Black" with sexual assault and peer pressure, "Night Hoops" with domestic violence and neglect. "High Heat" deals with the theme of family death, the consequences of crime in the family and the problems of revenge. "Runner" involves a young man who unwittingly becomes involved in a terrorist plot. Deuker's most recent novel, published in 2007, is "Gym Candy", inspired by newspaper reports connecting anabolic steroid use among high school players with 'roid rage and suicide. In the novel, Deuker follows the high school football career of Mick Johnson, a running back just one small step below elite status. Johnson is drawn to steroids as a means of taking that final step, with disastrous results.

Awards

*"On the Devil's Court", Young Adult Book of the Year in South Carolina
*"Heart of a Champion", Young Adult Book of the Year in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee
*"Painting the Black", Blue Ribbon Book BCCB
*"Night Hoops", Young Adult Book of the Year in Nebraska
*"High Heat" Golden Sower Award, 2006, Nebraska.
*"Runner" Nominated for YA Book of the Year in Texas, Rhode Island and others