Thomas Hoobler Biography

Born 1971; Education: University of Notre Dame, A. B., 1964; attended University of Iowa Writer's Workshop, 1965. Hobbies and other interests: Music, photography, gardening, and travel.

Addresses

Agent—Phyllis Jackson, ICM, 40 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Career

Freelance writer and editor, 1977–. Worked in various positions at private schools in Cincinnati, OH, including as teacher of English and photography, audio-visual coordinator, and basketball coach, 1965–70; trade-magazine editor, 1971–77.

Honors Awards

Best book award, Society for School Librarians International, 1991, for Showa: The Age of Hirohito; Parents' Choice Gold Award, 1995, and New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age selection, 1998, both for The African-American Family Album; Carter G. Woodson Honor Book, 1997, for The Japanese-American Family Album; Edgar Allan Poe Award for best young-adult mystery, 2005, for In Darkness, Death; additional honors from Library of Congress, Bank Street College, International Reading Association, National Council for the Social Studies, and National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Writings

WITH WIFE, DOROTHY HOOBLER

Frontier Diary, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1974.

Margaret Mead: A Life in Science, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1974.

House Plants, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1975.

Vegetable Gardening and Cooking, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1975.

Pruning, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1975.

An Album of World War I, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1976.

Indoor Gardening, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1976.

Photographing History: The Career of Mathew Brady, Putnam (New York, NY), 1977.

An Album of World War II, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1977.

The Trenches: Fighting on the Western Front in World War I, Putnam (New York, NY), 1978.

Photographing the Frontier, Putnam (New York, NY), 1980.

U.S.-China Relations since World War II, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1981.

An Album of the Seventies, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1981.

The Social Security System, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1982.

The Voyages of Captain Cook, Putnam (New York, NY), 1983.

Joseph Stalin, with an introductory essay by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1985.

Cleopatra, Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1986.

Zhou Enlai, with an introductory essay by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1986.

Your Right to Privacy, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1987.

Nelson and Winnie Mandela, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1987.

Drugs and Crime, Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1988.

Toussaint L'Ouverture, Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1990.

George Washington and President's Day, pictures by Ronald Miller, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1990.

Vietnam, Why We Fought: An Illustrated History, Knopf (New York, NY), 1990.

Showa: The Age of Hirohito, Walker (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Hyung Woong Pak) The Pacific Rim, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1990.

Vanished!, Walker (New York, NY), 1991.

Lost Civilizations, Walker (New York, NY), 1992.

Mandela: The Man, the Struggle, the Triumph, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

Confucianism, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1993, revised edition, 2004.

Real American Girls Tell Their Own Stories, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1999.

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn (novel), Philomel (New York, NY), 1999.

Vanity Rules: A History of American Fashion and Beauty, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2000.

The Demon in the Tea House (novel), Philomel (New York, NY), 2001.

We Are Americans: Voices of the Immigrant Experience, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

In Darkness, Death (novel), Philomel (New York, NY), 2004.

The Sword That Cut the Burning Grass (novel), Philomel (New York, NY), 2005.

"HER STORY" SERIES; WITH WIFE, DOROTHY HOOBLER

Aloha Means Come Back: The Story of a World War II Girl, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1991.

The Sign Painter's Secret: The Story of a Revolutionary Girl, illustrated by Donna Ayers, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1991.

Next Stop, Freedom: The Story of a Slave Girl, illustrated by Cheryl Hanna, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1991.

Treasure in the Stream: The Story of a Gold Rush Girl, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1991.

And Now, a Word from Our Sponsor: The Story of a Roaring '20s Girl, illustrated by Rebecca Leer, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1992.

A Promise at the Alamo: The Story of a Texas Girl, illustrated by Jennifer Hewitson, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1992.

The Trail on Which They Wept: The Story of a Cherokee Girl, illustrated by S. S. Burrus, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1992.

The Summer of Dreams: The Story of a World's Fair Girl, illustrated by Renee Graef, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1993.

Sally Bradford: The Story of a Rebel Girl, illustrated by Robert Gantt Steele, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1997.

Julie Meyer: The Story of a Wagon Train Girl, illustrated by Robert Gantt Steele, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1997.

Priscilla Foster: The Story of a Salem Girl, illustrated by Robert Gantt Steele, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1997.

Florence Robinson: The Story of a Jazz Age Girl, illustrated by Robert Sauber, Silver Burdett (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1997.

"IMAGES ACROSS THE AGES" SERIES; WITH WIFE, DOROTHY HOOBLER

Chinese Portraits, illustrated by Victoria Bruck, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1993.

Italian Portraits, illustrated by Kim Fujawara, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1993.

Mexican Portraits, illustrated by Robert Kuester, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1993.

African Portraits, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1993.

South American Portraits, illustrated by Stephen Marchesi, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1994.

Russian Portraits, illustrated by John Edens, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1994.

French Portraits, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1994.

Japanese Portraits, illustrated by Victoria Bruck, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1994.

"FAMILY ALBUM" SERIES; WITH WIFE, DOROTHY HOOBLER

The Chinese-American Family Album, introduction by Bette Bao Lord, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1994.

The Italian-American Family Album, introduction by Mario M. Cuomo, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1994.

The Mexican-American Family Album, introduction by Henry G. Cisneros, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1994.

The Irish-American Family Album, introduction by Joseph P. Kennedy II, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

The African-American Family Album, introduction by Phylicia Rashad, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

The Jewish-American Family Album, introduction by Mandy Patinkin, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

The German-American Family Album, introduction by Werner Klemperer, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

The Japanese-American Family Album, introduction by George Takei, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

The Cuban-American Family Album, introduction by Oscar Hijuelos, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

The Scandinavian-American Family Album, introduction by Hubert H. Humphrey III, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

"CENTURY KIDS" SERIES; WITH WIFE, DOROTHY HOOBLER

The First Decade: Curtain Going Up, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2000.

The Second Decade: Voyages, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2000.

The 1920s: Luck, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2000.

The 1930s: Directions, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2000.

The 1940s: Secrets, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

The 1950s: Music, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

The 1960s: Rebels, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

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The 1970s: Arguments, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2002.

The 1980s: Earthsong, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2002.

Sidelights

Thomas Hoobler joins wife Dorothy Hoobler as a prolific husband-wife writing team with over sixty books to their credit. Writing primarily nonfiction, the Hooblers have become well known for their biographical writings, tackling subjects from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. They have contributed to series ranging from Oxford University Press's portrayal of multicultural America in the "Family Album" books to fictional accounts of young women throughout the American centuries in the "Her Story" series from Silver Burdett.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hoobler attended the University of Notre Dame. He spent a year at the prestigious writer's workshop of the University of Iowa be-fore returning to his hometown to work as an all-purpose educator at a local private school. There Hoobler not only taught English and photography—two of his passions—but also ran the audiovisual department and even coached basketball. By 1971 he had moved on to an editorial position at a trade magazine, marrying his wife that same year.

The Hooblers' collaboration began in 1974 with a biography of the anthropologist Margaret Meade, followed by several adult gardening titles. Their first juvenile title together was the 1976 An Album of World War I, and this initial title spurred a prolific, long-standing cooperative effort, primarily in nonfiction.

Hoobler once described the collaborative process to Something about the Author (SATA): "Sometimes people imagine us sitting side-by-side at twin typewriters, turning out sheets of copy (or perhaps a specially built typewriter with two keyboards and only one sheet of paper). The truth is, that for the kind of books we write—mostly about people and events in history—a great deal of research is required. More of our time is spent in libraries looking for information or archives searching for interesting photographs or prints, than is actually spent at the typewriter."

Once the research is completed, the Hooblers discuss the current project to determine exactly how they plan to write about it. "We are fortunate in that we always have been able to write books about subjects that were interesting to us, rather than about topics that some publisher thought would sell well," Hoobler explained to SATA. "Writing a book, even a short one, is so much work that it would be sheer torture for us to write one about something that we weren't interested in."

Hoobler's personal interests have led him to write several of his own novels, including the young-adult novels Dr. Chill's Project and The Revenge of Ho-Tai. In the first title, published in 1987, a group of adolescents with special talents is gathered for a secret project run by the amiable Dr. Chill, a psychologist. Dr. Chill's vocation is so-called "specials": young people with paranormal powers such as telepathy, precognition, and telekinesis. Dr. Chill not only treats his young clients well, but also encourages the development of their rare talents. Allie, who has spent many of her fifteen years in a mental institution, is amazed at the sudden freedom she experiences when she arrives at Dr. Chill's halfway house. Allie's specialty is telekinesis; other kids at Dr. Chill's halfway house are Rose, who is able to read minds and predict the future; Jay, who is able to manipulate machines; Lew, who is able to make people like him and do his bidding; and Timmy, a young autistic child with extraordinary telepathic powers.

When Rose is kidnapped by a quasi-governmental group eager to use her powers for their own purposes, her halfway house rush to her aid, using their own special gifts to fight the kidnappers. Zena Sutherland, writing in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, noted that Hoobler "creates a believable setting" and develops a "successful" Psi novel "with good momentum and style, with interesting characters and an element of suspense." John Peters observed in School Library Journal that "the ESP elements are well developed" and that Hoobler's characters "show room for complexity that will make readers think." A Booklist contributor concluded that despite a thin plot, "the characters, their interactions, and talents are intriguing."

In The Revenge of Ho-Tai, Hoobler revisits some of his own experiences as a basketball coach in Cincinnati. The new science teacher/basketball coach at Edwards Academy, Mr. Kapur makes it seem possible not to have a losing year. With victory in the first game of the season, the team is excited and optimistic. Kapur uses a statue of the fat, smiling Ho-Tai as the team mascot; the seventh-and eighth-grade boys rub its belly before each game as a good-luck symbol and imagine themselves to be playing well. But when parents and administrators get wind of this ceremony, they fear the makings of a cult.

Narrated in the first person by Roger Barstow, the novel relates the events of this bizarre basketball season at Edwards Academy. The previous year's star, Dennis, is miffed at Kapur and his Ho-Tai statue, for they have brought a sense of team play to the boys. No longer is he the lone hotshot on the court. Dennis is largely responsible for getting the parents stirred up, for having Kapur fired, and for the destruction of the smiling Ho-Tai. When the roof of the school gym collapses during a snowstorm, Roger believes that Ho-Tai has gotten his revenge on the school.

"This is more complex than the average sports novel," noted Todd Morning in a review of The Revenge of Ho-Tai for School Library Journal. "The story is fast moving, features characters that come to life, and is effectively told in a casual first-person style." Morning concluded that Hoobler's book was that "rare thing: a thought-provoking sports novel." Deborah Bennett, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, commented that "Hoobler is adept at creating convincing adolescent characters, situations, and dialogue, and that his book "should appeal to both sports fans and readers who want 'coming-of-age' stories."