Patricia Reilly Giff (1935-) Biography

Born 1935, in Brooklyn, NY; Education: Marymount College, B.A., 1956; St. John's University, M.A., 1958; Hofstra University, professional diploma in reading, 1975. Religion: Roman Catholic.

Addresses

Agent—George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic, 65 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012.

Career

Freelance writer, 1979—. Public school teacher in New York, NY, 1956-60; Elmont Public Schools, Elmont, NY, teacher, 1964-84. The Dinosaur's Paw (children's book store), Fairfield, CT, cofounder and partner, 1994—.

Honors Awards

Honorary D.H.L., Hofstra University, 1990; Best Books for Young Adults citation, American Library Association, and Newbery Medal Honor Book citation, American Patricia Reilly Giff Library Association (ALA), 1998, both for Lily's Crossing; Christopher Award, Best Books for Young Adults citation, ALA, and Newbery Medal Honor Book citation, ALA, 2003, all for Pictures of Hollis Woods.

Writings

JUVENILE FICTION

Fourth-Grade Celebrity (also see below), illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1979.

The Girl Who Knew It All (also see below), illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1979.

Today Was a Terrible Day, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1980.

Next Year I'll Be Special, illustrated by Marylin Hafner, Dutton (New York, NY), 1980.

Left-handed Shortstop: A Novel, illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1980.

Have You Seen Hyacinth Macaw?: A Mystery, illustrated by Anthony Kramer, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1981.

The Winter Worm Business: A Novel, illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1981.

The Gift of the Pirate Queen, illustrated by Jenny Rutherford, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1982.

Suspect, illustrated by Stephen Marchesi, Dutton (New York, NY), 1982.

Loretta P. Sweeny, Where Are You?: A Mystery, illustrated by Anthony Kramer, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1983.

Kidnap in San Juan, Dell (New York, NY), 1983.

The Almost Awful Play, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1984.

Rat Teeth, illustrated by Leslie Morrill, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1984.

Watch Out, Ronald Morgan, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1985.

Love, from the Fifth Grade Celebrity, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1986.

Mother Teresa: A Sister to the Poor (nonfiction), illustrated by Ted Lewin, Viking (New York, NY), 1986.

Happy Birthday, Ronald Morgan, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1986.

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Growing up in the Little House (nonfiction), illustrated by Eileen McKeating, Viking (New York, NY), 1987.

Tootsie Tanner Why Don't You Talk? An Abby Jones Junior Detective Mystery, illustrated by Anthony Kramer, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1987.

Columbus Circle, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1988.

I Love Saturday, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz, Viking (New York, NY), 1989.

Poopsie Pomerantz, Pick up Your Feet, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1989.

Matthew Jackson Meets the Wall, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1990.

The War Began at Supper: Letters to Miss Loria, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1991.

Diana: Twentieth-Century Princess (nonfiction), illustrated by Michele Laporte, Viking (New York, NY), 1991.

Show Time at the Polk Street School: Plays You Can Do Yourself or in the Classroom, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1992.

Shark in School, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1994.

Ronald Morgan Goes to Camp, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1995.

Good Luck, Ronald Morgan, illustrated by Susanna Natti, Viking (New York, NY), 1996.

Lily's Crossing, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1997.

Katie Cobb Two, Viking (New York, NY), 1999.

Louisa May Alcott (nonfiction), Viking (New York, NY), 1999.

Nory Ryan's Song, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2000.

Fourth-Grade Celebrity and The Girl Who Knew It All, Dell (New York, NY), 2000.

Edith Stein: Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2001.

All the Way Home, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2001.

Pictures of Hollis Woods, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Maggie's Door, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2002.

A House of Tailors, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Willow Run, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2005.

"KIDS OF THE POLK STREET SCHOOL" SERIES

The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1984.

The Candy Corn Contest, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1984.

December Secrets, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1984.

Lazy Lions, Lucky Lambs, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

Say "Cheese", illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

Purple Climbing Days, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

In the Dinosaur's Paw, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

Snaggle Doodles, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

The Valentine Star, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1985.

Sunny-Side Up, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1986.

Fish Face, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1986.

Pickle Puss, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1986.

"NEW KIDS AT THE POLK STREET SCHOOL" SERIES

The Kids of the Polk Street School, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

B-E-S-T Friends, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

If the Shoe Fits, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

Watch Out! Man-eating Snake, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

All about Stacy, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

Fancy Feet, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

Stacy Says Good-Bye, Dell (New York, NY), 1989.

Spectacular Stone Soup, Dell (New York, NY), 1989.

Beast and the Halloween Horror, Dell (New York, NY), 1990.

Emily Arrow Promises to Do Better This Year, Dell (New York, NY), 1990.

Monster Rabbit Runs Amuk!, Dell (New York, NY), 1990.

Wake up Emily, It's Mother Day, Dell (New York, NY), 1991.

"POLKA DOT, PRIVATE EYE" SERIES

The Mystery of the Blue Ring, Dell (New York, NY), 1987.

The Powder Puff Puzzle, Dell (New York, NY), 1987.

The Riddle of the Red Purse, Dell (New York, NY), 1987.

The Secret at the Polk Street School, Dell (New York, NY), 1987.

The Case of the Cool-Itch Kid, Dell (New York, NY), 1989.

Garbage Juice for Breakfast, Dell (New York, NY), 1989.

The Clue at the Zoo, Dell (New York, NY), 1990.

The Trail of the Screaming Teenager, Dell (New York, NY), 1990.

"LINCOLN LIONS BAND" SERIES

Meet the Lincoln Lions Band, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Yankee Doodle Drumsticks, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

The Jingle Bells Jam, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

The Rootin' Tootin' Bugle Boy, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

The Great Shamrock Disaster, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

"POLK STREET SPECIAL" SERIES

Write Up a Storm with the Polk Street School, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Turkey Trouble, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Count Your Money with the Polk Street School, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Postcard Pest, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Look Out, Washington, D.C.!, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Pet Parade, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Green Thumbs, Everyone, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Oh Boy, Boston!, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

Next Stop, New York City! The Polk Street Kids on Tour, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

Let's Go, Philadelphia!, illustrated by Blanche Sims, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

"BALLET SLIPPERS" SERIES

Dance with Rosie, illustrated by Julie Durrell, Viking (New York, NY), 1996.

Rosie's Nutcracker Dreams, illustrated by Julie Durrell, Viking (New York, NY), 1996.

Starring Rosie, illustrated by Julie Durrell, Viking (New York, NY), 1997.

A Glass Slipper for Rosie, illustrated by Julie Durrell, Viking (New York, NY), 1997.

Not-So-Perfect Rosie, illustrated by Julie Durrell, Viking (New York, NY), 1997.

Rosie's Big City Ballet, illustrated by Julie Durrell, Viking (New York, NY), 1998.

"FRIENDS AND AMIGOS" SERIES

Good Dog, Bonita, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 1998.

Adios, Anna, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 1998.

Happy Birthday, Anna, Sorpresa!, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 1998.

Ho, Ho, Benjamin, Feliz Navidad, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 1998.

It's a Fiesta, Benjamin, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 1998.

Say Hola, Sarah, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 1998.

"THE ADVENTURES OF MINNIE AND MAX" SERIES

Kidnap at the Catfish Café, illustrated by Lynne Cravath, Viking (New York, NY), 1998.

Mary Moon Is Missing, illustrated by Lynne Cravath, Viking (New York, NY), 1998.

OTHER

Advent: Molly Maguire, Viking (New York, NY), 1991.

Don't Tell the Girls: A Family Memoir, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

Adaptations

Work in Progress

Sidelights

A prolific author, Patricia Reilly Giff specializes in writing humorous books for middle-grader readers. In both her novels and her multi-book series, Giff explores situations that are readily familiar to young people: putting on a class play, having a pet, and getting along with family and friends. Giff's background as a teacher and reading consultant has given her a unique perspective on her readers. Although she did not begin writing until her early forties, Giff always had a clear idea of her objectives. She once commented, "I had worked with so many children who had terrible problems that I wanted to say things that would make them laugh. I wanted to tell them they were special .… I wish I had started sooner."

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935, Giff recalled her childhood as an adventure in reading. As she once told Something about the Author (SATA), "While the rest of the kids were playing hide and seek, I sat under the cherry tree reading. On winter evenings I shared an armchair with my father while he read Hiawatha and Evangeline to me. I read the stories of my mother's childhood and every book in our little library in St. Albans. I wanted to write. Always."

After graduating from high school, Giff enrolled at Marymount College, where she studied the classic authors of English literature, such as Keats, Poe, Pope, and Dryden. Intimidated by such masterworks, she changed her major from English to business, "and then to history, where I listened to a marvelous man named Mullee spin tales about the past. I fell into teaching because my beloved dean, who had no idea I wanted to write, saw that it was a good place for me." Teaching would be her main focus for close to two decades, her time too full of work and family to grant a place to writing. Married with three children, a master's degree in history, and a professional diploma in reading, Giff rounded the corner to age forty when it hit her: "I hadn't written a story; I hadn't even tried."

Determined to pursue her childhood dream, she said, "I dragged myself out of bed in the early morning darkness to spend an hour or two at my typewriter before I had to leave for school. Slowly and painfully, I began to write." Her first published book, Fourth Grade Celebrity, appeared in 1979, and its success convinced Giff to dedicate herself to her craft. Along with a number of Giff's books for school-age readers, Fourth Grade Celebrity has been through a number of printings, a reflection of its author's ability to connect with the timeless interests of young people. In many of her series, Giff teams with an accomplished illustrator who uses a light, humorous touch to bring to life each of the author's likeable, realistic characters.

Several of Giff's series books have featured the popular students of her fictional Polk Street School. In 1992's Show Time at the Polk Street School pivotal teacher Ms. Rooney decides to have her students stage plays. Three play scripts, along with the student's efforts to make them come to life, are included in the volume, which serves as "a solid introduction for aspiring thespians," according to a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Bring-your-pet-to-school week becomes the focus of Pet Parade, as student Beast looks for another pet to take to Ms. Rooney's class because his own dog, Kissie Poo, does nothing well except sleep. In Next Stop, New York City! and Look Out, Washington, DC! the Polk Street School gang descends on some of the nation's largest cities, with humorous chaos the expected result. Serving as both a story and a tour guide of sorts, the books feature maps of their subject cities, as well as phone numbers of the most favorite tourist attractions for kids.

In the "Ballet Slippers" series, Giff introduces young readers to Rosie O'Meara, an aspiring dancer whose enthusiasm for ballet sometimes gets her into trouble. In Starring Rosie, although unhappy about finding herself cast as the evil witch rather than the star in Sleeping Beauty, Rosie rebounds, offers to find a boy to play the handsome prince, and then must make good on her promise. But finding a boy willing to wear tights on stage in front of all his friends proves to be no easy task in what School Library Journal contributor Eva Mitnick characterized as a "breezy and fun" read. A Glass Slipper for Rosie finds the young dancer involved in another class production, although disappointment follows when she realizes her grandfather may not be in town to see the show. Calling the book a "delightful addition to the series," School Library Journal critic Janet M. Bair praised A Glass Slipper for Rosie as "a well-rounded story about family and friends."

In addition to seeing many of her popular stories translated into Spanish for Hispanic students, Giff has also written a series that incorporates children from Spanish-speaking cultures. In Ho, Ho, Benjamin, Feliz Navidad a young boy shares the holiday season with his homesick Ecuadorian neighbor and learns about Christmas celebrations in other countries. Adios, Anna, another installment in Giff's "Friends and Amigos" series, finds Sarah Cole dejected after her best friend, Anna Ortiz, goes away for summer vacation. Deciding to occupy her time by trying to learn to speak Spanish, Sarah borrows Anna's house key to use one of her books and then mislays the key. "Children are sure to enjoy Sarah's funny adventures as they also learn some Spanish," commented School Library Journal reviewer Maria Redburn, who also praised Giff's inclusion of basic Spanish vocabulary words. Sarah appears again in Say Hola, Sarah. Here her progress in learning Spanish is being aided by Anna, although she is frustrated at how slowly she is advancing in another book that includes short lessons in the language.

In the late 1990s, with over sixty books for young readers to her credit, Giff changed gears somewhat by penning Lily's Crossing, a coming-of-age story for older readers. In the poignant story, which takes place during the summer of 1944 as World War II rages across Europe, fifteen-year-old Lily is left behind with her grandmother as her widowed father joins the army to fight the Nazi threat overseas. The novel draws on Giff's own memories of the war years and took four years to complete. Praising the work as "a fine piece of historical fiction that evokes a time and place without taking advantage of its characters' emotional lives," Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books contributor Janice M. Del Negro noted that Lily's Crossing "coalesces [plot and characters] into an emotional whole that is fully satisfying."

The critical success of Lily's Crossing—winner of a Newbery Honor citation among other awards—encouraged Giff to pursue this same line of fiction in Nory Ryan's Song and its sequel, Maggie's Door. The former title takes place at the onset of the Irish Potato Famine in 1845, and is a survival story related by twelve-year-old Nory Ryan. She lives with her family on the west-central coast on a subsistence-level farm; worried that they may be evicted any day and hoping their father will come back from sea with money to save them. When the famine strikes, many families decide to immigrate to America, and the Ryans want to join these. A contributor for Publishers Weekly found that the novel "meticulously recreates" the Great Hunger, as the Potato Famine was also called. The same reviewer concluded, "vivid descriptions of the stench of failed crops and the foul-tasting food that keeps them alive will linger in readers' minds even after Nory's salvation is secured." Maggie's Door continues Nory's saga, telling the story of her harrowing voyage across the Atlantic. The novel also follows the adventures of Nory's friend, Sean, who becomes separated from the Ryans and must find his own passage to America. "Despite its grittiness," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer, Maggie's Door "succeeds in evoking a sense of hope as characters rely on their resourcefulness both to stay alive and to reach their destination."

In All the Way Home, Giff brings together "two appealing young characters in this story of friendship, family and finding where one belongs," according to a contributor for Publishers Weekly. Brick is sent to stay with a friend in Brooklyn when a fire destroys their apple crop in 1941. Loretta, the friend, is a nurse who years ago adopted a girl with polio, Mariel, from a hospital located near Brick's farm. Brick and Mariel slowly become friends, and when he voices a desire to return to his home area to help a friend harvest apples, Mariel encourages him and even decides to join him. Her one desire is to trace her birth mother, and for that she must return to the hospital where she contracted polio. Reviewing the novel in Booklist, Ellen Mandel felt that Giff "delivers a memorable picture of 1940s America" in this "tightly woven, inspirational story."

Pictures of Hollis Woods, Giff's second Newbery Honor Book, takes place on Long Island, where talented but troubled preteen foster-child Hollis Woods—named after the section of Queens where she was discovered abandoned as an infant—begins to feel secure at the home of a retired art teacher. Booklist reviewer GraceAnne A. DeCandido praised the novel as a "moving story about families, longing, and belonging," while in School Library Journal Jean Gaffney noted Giff's use of flashbacks that "slowly illuminate Hollis's life with one family who had hoped to adopt her and why this didn't happen."

Another work of historical fiction, A House of Tailors, concerns thirteen-year-old Dina, a character based on the author's great-grandmother. Accused of being a spy during the Franco-Prussian War, Dina flees Germany to live with her uncle in the United States. Upon her arrival, Dina is disappointed to learn that her uncle, a tailor, lives with his family in a cramped Brooklyn tenement, and that she must earn her keep by helping him with the business. According to School Library Journal critic Barbara Auerback, A House of Tailors "is rich with believable, endearing characters as well as excitement and emotion."

Since she began her career as a children's author in the late 1970s, Giff has enjoyed the writing process more In this 2001 novel, when Brick goes to live with a family friend in Brooklyn after fire destroys his family's orchard during the summer of 1941, he puts his own problems in perspective when he meets upbeat polio victim Mariel. and more, particularly when it involves a young audience. "Writing became one of the most important parts of my life, a part that now I couldn't do without," she once recalled. "I hope to say to all the children I've loved that they are special … that all of us are special … important just because we are ourselves." In 1994 she and several members of her family started a home-town bookstore entirely devoted to children's books. Giff views her new enterprise, named The Dinosaur's Paw, as "a community that brings children and books together."