Franny Billingsley

Franny Billingsley is the author of two award-winning children's fantasy novels. She grew up in Chicago, an avid reader throughout her childhood. She attributes her love for the fantastic to the Scottish ballads her father sang to her as a child, as well as to the year she spent in Denmark in the fifth grade.

She graduated from Tufts University in 1976, and from Boston University Law School in 1979. However, after visiting her sister in Barcelona, she realized how much she loathed being a lawyer, and two weeks later she quit her job and moved to Spain. It was there that she re-read all the books she loved as a child, and began write children's books herself. After moving back to Chicago, she wrote for many years while working at the 57th Street Books in Hyde Park. She now lives in Highland Park, IL with her husband Richard Pettengill, a professor of English and Theater at Lake Forest College. They have two children, Miranda and Nathaniel.

Novels

"Well Wished"

Middle-grade novel, Atheneum 1997

Summary from the author's official site:

In the village of Bishop Mayne is a magical Wishing Well where a person may make one wish in a lifetime. But the Well can create problems for those who use its power, for wishes often go wrong. It was just such a wish that took all the children in the town away. Only eleven-year-old Nuria, who lives with her grandfather up on the mountain, remains.Then one child returns-Catty Winter. Catty's legs are mysteriously crippled, and Catty desperately wants Nuria to make a wish so she can walk again. Nuria swears she will make the wish for her friend. But the Well has a mind of its own. What if Nuria's wish goes wrong?

Awards:
1997-8 Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize Honor Book (best fantasy written in the English language)

Best Book Lists:
School Library Journal Best Book
Booklist Top Ten First Novels for Youth
School Library Journal "Sleeper": 100 Books Too Good to Miss

"The Folk Keeper"

Young-adult novel, Atheneum 1999

Summary from the author's official site:

Corinna is a Folk Keeper. Her job is to keep the mysterious Folk who live beneath the ground at bay. But Corinna has a secret that even she doesn't fully comprehend, until she agrees to serve as Folk Keeper at Marblehaugh Park, a wealthy family's seaside manor. There her hidden powers burst into full force, and Corinna's life changes forever...

Awards:
2000 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Fiction
2000 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, Children's Literature

Best Book Lists:
ALA Notable Book for Children
Booklist Editors' Choice
School Library Journal Best Book
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
Publishers Weekly Best Book
Booklist Top Ten Fantasy Books for Youth

Forthcoming Works

"Big Bad Bunny" (picture book illustrated by Brian Karas, Atheneum 2008)
"The Chime Child" (middle-grade novel, Atheneum - not yet scheduled)
"Shadow Magic" (middle-grade novel, Atheneum - not yet scheduled)

External links

* http://www.frannybillingsley.com