Ann Rinaldi (1934–) Biography

Born 1934, in New York, NY; Electric), July, 1960; children: Ronald P. Jr., Marcella.

Career

Writer. Somerset Messenger Gazette, Somerset, NJ, columnist, 1969–70; Trentonian, Trenton, NJ, columnist, feature writer, and editorial writer, 1970–91. Lecturer, making visits to schools and educational conferences around the United States. Former member, Brigade of the American Revolution.

Honors Awards

First place awards for newspaper columns, New Jersey Press Association, 1978, 1989; New Jersey Institute of Technology award, 1987, for Time Enough for Drums, and 1988, for The Good Side of My Heart; National History Award for contributions in "bringing history to life," Daughters of the American Revolution, 1991, for her historical novels; Best Book Award, Senior Division, Pacific Northwest Library Association, 1994, and M. Jerry Weiss Book Award, 1998, both for Wolf by the Ears; several second place awards for newspaper columns; Time Enough for Drums, The Last Silk Dress, A Break with Charity and Wolf by the Ears were named American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults.

Writings

YOUNG-ADULT NOVELS

Term Paper, Walker (New York, NY), 1980.

Promises Are for Keeping, Walker (New York, NY), 1982.

But in the Fall I'm Leaving, Holiday House (New York, NY), 11985.

Time Enough for Drums, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1986.

The Good Side of My Heart, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1987.

The Last Silk Dress, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1988.

Wolf by the Ears, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1991.

A Ride into Morning: The Story of Tempe Wick, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1991.

A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1992.

In My Father's House, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1993.

A Stitch in Time (first book in the "Quilt Trilogy"), Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Finishing Becca: The Story of Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1994.

The Secret of Sarah Revere, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1995.

Broken Days (second book in the "Quilt Trilogy"), Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1996.

Keep Smiling Through, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1996.

The Blue Door (third book in the "Quilt Trilogy"), Scholastic (New York, NY), 1996.

The Second Bend in the River, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997.

Mine Eyes Have Seen, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997.

Nightflower, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1997.

An Acquaintance with Darkness, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1997.

Cast Two Shadows: The American Revolution in South Carolina, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1998.

My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

The Coffin Quilt: The Feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1999.

Amelia's War, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce: A Pilgrim Boy, Plimoth Plantation, 1620, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color, 1832, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2000.

The Staircase, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Girl in Blue, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Taking Liberty: The Story of Oney Judge, George Washington's Runaway Slave, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

Millicent's Gift, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Numbering All the Bones, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Or Give Me Death: A Novel of Patrick Henry's Family, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2003.

Sarah's Ground, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Mutiny's Daughter, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Brooklyn Rose, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2005.

Contributor of columns, editorials, and stories to Trentonian; author of self-syndicated column to daily papers in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 1969–70.

Rinaldi's works have been translated into four languages.

Sidelights

The author of nearly thirty novels for young adults, Ann Rinaldi specializes in historical fiction, viewing the events of pivotal periods in American history through the eyes of young female protagonists. Rinaldi's heroines come of age and make consequential personal decisions regarding public events during the Revolutionary War era, as in Time Enough for Drums, A Ride into Morning, Finishing Becca, Cast Two Shadows, and The Secret of Sarah Reeve, or in the Civil War era, as in The Last Silk Dress, In My Father's House, An Acquaintance with Darkness, Mine Eyes Have Seen, and Amelia's War. She has also explored the consequences of slavery in The Education of Mary, Wolf by the Ears, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. Additionally, she presents a dramatic re-creation of the Salem witch trials in A Break with Charity, and a family saga in her "Quilt Trilogy." Known for meticulous research and compelling plots, Rinaldi's historical fiction has helped create the resurgence in the genre experienced in young adult literature in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. As Susan Dove Lempke noted in Booklist, "Rinaldi's books are always impeccably researched, vividly detailed, and filled with very human characters; they are also about something that matters."

Rinaldi worked for many years as a journalist before publishing her first young-adult title, Term Paper, in 1980. "I was my mother's fifth child, and she died right after I was born," Rinaldi once told Something about the Author (SATA). "For two years I lived in Brooklyn with an aunt and uncle who wanted to adopt me. In the household were a lot of older teenage cousins who pampered and spoiled me, but my father came one day and took me home abruptly. The only happy part of my childhood ended."

Although Rinaldi's father worked for a newspaper as a manager, the author continued, "he did everything he could to prevent me from becoming a writer. At school they attempted to take out of me what spirit had eluded my stepmother. My father did not believe in college for his daughters, so I was sent into the business world to become a secretary." Rinaldi worked in typing pools for several years until her marriage. After having two children, she began to write fiction. She wished to become a novelist, but her work was "terrible," she recalled. Rinaldi's introduction to professional writing came through the newspaper business, which she has been in since 1969. Over a decade later, she published Term Paper, and by 1991 was able to devote her energies to writing novels full time.

The term paper reverenced in the title of Rinaldi's debut novel is written by Nicki as an attempt to articulate her feelings about her father's death. The assignment is given to Nicki by a substitute English teacher who just happens to be the girl's much-older brother. Through her efforts to finish the paper, Nicki matures and learns to understand how events have affected other members of the family. The result, according to School Library Journal contributor A. B. Hart, is a work that "declares strongly for family obligations of love and forgiveness." Nicki also appears in a sequel, Promises Are for Keeps, which details the hospital volunteer service she performs as a way to make up for some childish pranks.

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The book stands well on its own, M. K. Chelton wrote in Voice of Youth Advocates, and "Nicki sounds like a real kid, not an imitation." Two other early novels by Rinaldi are set in contemporary times, But in the Fall I'm Leaving and The Good Side of My Heart, both featuring rebellious, teenage Brie and her coming-of-age angst.

While penning these early novels, Rinaldi was also beginning to turn her hand to historical matters, inspired in part by her son's and then her daughter's involvement in reenactment groups. Her initial focus was on the events of the Revolutionary War; her first novel on the subject, Time Enough for Drums, was published in 1986. This novel tells the story of Jemima Emerson, a fifteen-year-old resident of the city of Trenton, who watches in fascination as the American struggle for independence from Great Britain divides her town and her family. The novel is based roughly on the historical background of Washington's retreat before the battle of Trenton, though Rinaldi makes the story accessible by adding intrigue, romance, and a variety of interesting characters to the historical facts. Time Enough for Drums, is "a stirring book which brings history to life accurately," a contributor for Kirkus Reviews wrote, adding that "Rinaldi's enthusiasm for her subject is catching."

Rinaldi has returned many times to the American Revolution for inspiration. A Ride into Morning follows the tale of Tempe Wick who, along with her cousin and fellow patriot, Mary Cooper, must run her farm despite the war raging all around them. The book is based on the legend of a young New Jersey woman who supposedly hid her horse in her house to keep it from being commandeered by colonial soldiers. Booklist critic Candace Smith deemed the novel "a suspenseful read with enough everyday detail to make it realistic and enough adventure to make it exciting." In The Fifth of March Rinaldi tells the story of the Boston Massacre through the eyes of a young servant indentured to John and Abigail Adams. A Publishers Weekly contributor called the book a "painstakingly researched tale," while Booklist reviewer Chris Sherman noted it "will be a wonderful selection to use in language-arts and social-studies classes."

More spirited heroines from Revolutionary times, both fictional and real, have followed. Young Becca Syng becomes the maid to Peggy Shippen, soon to be married to General Benedict Arnold, in Finishing Becca. Set in Philadelphia during the Revolution, the ensuing action is seen through this young woman's eyes. "Rinaldi's intriguing approach depicting the life of Peggy Shippen through the eyes of Becca Syng will appeal to young adults with an interest in history," according to Laura L. Lent, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates. The daughter of Paul Revere makes an appearance in The Secret of Sarah Revere, in which young Sarah tells of her father's rides and of the intelligence network of the patriot community just before the Revolutionary War.

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"Once again Rinaldi has given readers a young woman's perceptions of what has too often been the all-male story of American history and politics," wrote Kay E. Vandergrift in a School Library Journal review. Booklist critic Susan Dove Lempke found that Rinaldi's "technique of framing the story within Sarah's recollections creates some initial confusion," but went on to conclude that "the swift pace and credible characters combined with impeccable research make the novel an involving and informative venture into history." In Cast Two Shadows young Caroline learns about the realities of the war in South Carolina. Brenda Moses-Allen, reviewing Cast Two Shadows in the Voice of Youth Advocates, noted that Rinaldi's "painstaking research is evident" and called the novel "thought-provoking."

Rinaldi has also produced a family saga with her "Quilt Trilogy", set in Salem, Massachusetts. The series relates the adventures of the Chelmsfords, a shipping merchant family, from 1788 to 1841. The first book in the series, A Stitch in Time, is narrated by sixteen-year-old Hannah, who sees her family pulled apart shortly after the War of Independence. One sister marries a sea captain and others prepare to move to the Northwestern Territory. Reviewing the novel, a writer for Publishers Weekly concluded, "With her infectious fascination for American history and her sensitive characterizations, Rinaldi again creates an adventurous, heart-catching story that will leave readers in eager anticipation of its successors."

The second novel in the "Quilt Trilogy," Broken Days, moves forward in time to the period just before the War of 1812. Hannah is now Aunt Hannah, and this new tale is related through the eyes of her niece, fourteen-year-old Ebie, whose life is complicated by the arrival of a half-Indian girl who claims to be her cousin. Marylee Tiernan, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, found "the setting is richly woven with the history of the period, and the plot enriched by the family's involvement with events of the time."

The final book in the trilogy, The Blue Door, is set in 1841, in both South C arolina and Lowell, Massachusetts. Amanda, granddaughter of a character from A Stitch in Time, travels north from her beloved plantation and witnesses firsthand the exploitation of women in New England textile mills. A contributor for Kirkus Reviews concluded that it is unnecessary for readers to have read the previous books in order to "enjoy this rip-roaring tale of adventures and suspense; Amanda and all the other characters inhabit a revealing and credible historical milieu." Writing about all three books, Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan called the "Quilt Trilogy" an "ambitious" undertaking that "tells involving stories of several strong female characters, shows people at different stages in their lives, and ties together three periods in America's past."

Rinaldi moves to the U.S. Civil War in several other historical novels. The Last Silk Dress, another coming-of-age novel, is based on an actual incident involving the capture of a Confederate hot-air balloon. Rinaldi's teenage female protagonist must again overcome the tumultuous and chaotic conditions caused both by the war and the corrupt society in which her family lives. As the novel progresses, Susan Chilmark gradually comes to understand the world around her and even to challenge it. Zena Sutherland, writing in the New York Times Book Review, praised Rinaldi for her "convincing" portrayal of Susan's awakening to the realities of racial inequality. The Last Silk Dress, Sutherland concluded, is "interesting not only for its theme and story, but also for the evidence it gives of Ms. Rinaldi's respect for her adolescent audience."

Mine Eyes Have Seen uses the backdrop of the historic incidents at Harper's Ferry and John Brown's raid to "weave fact and fiction into an involving story," according to Phelan in Booklist. The book is narrated by Brown's daughter, Annie. Pat Matthews, reviewing the title in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, commented that "Mounting suspense charges the story with dramatic intensity."

The moral ambiguities of body-snatching for medical research at the close of the U.S. Civil War are explored in An Acquaintance with Darkness, a work that blends "impressive" research with "a fast-paced and dramatic" plot, according to a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. Rinaldi blends the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with the fictional story of a young orphaned girl to create "some deliciously macabre elements of gothic potboilers," as Elizabeth Bush noted in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. The Confederate ransom of Hagerstown, Maryland, forms the backdrop for Amelia's War, set in 1861 and featuring an eleven-year-old female protagonist from that town. A contributor for Publishers Weekly remarked, "Among the book's strengths are some riveting characters both real … and imagined." Booklist writer Debbie Carton dubbed the novel "gripping" and "fastpaced."

In Wolf by the Ears Rinaldi returns to the Colonial era to follow the partially fictionalized tale of Harriet Hemings, the illegitimate daughter (by a slave mother) of Thomas Jefferson. In her "Author's Note" Rinaldi explains that it was, in part, the alienation which Jefferson's assumed illegitimate children must have felt that appealed to her. "The theme of alienation has always appealed to me," she notes. "My own mother had died when I was born. I never knew her family or even saw a picture of her until I was married. So there was always a part of me I could not acknowledge, a part of me I yearned to understand." As a result, she continues, "when looking for a real figure in American history to write about in connection with alienation, I recalled Harriet Hemings and her brothers."

While Rinaldi did a great deal of research about Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, she ultimately had to fill in the historical gaps by creating many of the details of her character's life. "Using every fact I could find about Monticello, Thomas Jefferson and the Hemings family, I put my story together," she writes. "My research, however, only told me bits and pieces about Harriet Hemings. And, so, within a framework of fact, I invented my own Harriet."

A slave who looks almost white, Harriet is perplexed by her role on Jefferson's plantation and struggles to find a place for herself in society. "Harriet's plight is poignant, and she is a finely drawn, believable character," Bruce Anne Shook observed in School Library Journal. Sister Mary Veronica also praised the novel, writing in the Voice of Youth Advocates that "it is history brought to life by a skillful and imaginative author."

With Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons Rinaldi presents a fictionalized biography of America's first black poet. Phillis Wheatley was purchased as a slave when a child in 1761 and later gained renown throughout the colonies for her verses. Booklist contributor Laura Tillotson concluded that "Strong characterization and perceptive realism mark this thoughtful portrait." With The Education of Mary Rinaldi tells the story of the scandal caused by the admission of black girls to Prudence Crandall's exclusive eastern Connecticut girl's school in 1832.

Rinaldi's abiding interest in history has also led her to write A Break with Charity: A Story of the Salem Witch Trials as well as focus on Native Americans in The Second Bend in the River and My Heart Is on the Ground. With the first of these, Rinaldi deals with the witch trials of 1692, using historical fact for the basis of her story and filling in the gaps with her own imagination. An acquaintance of the girls accused of instigating the witch trials, teenager Susanna English narrates the story fourteen years after the event. Carolyn Noah, writing in School Library Journal, praised Rinaldi's historical accuracy and wrote that her well-constructed plot "is rich with details and names that will be familiar to those who have read about the trials." While Noah faulted the characters as "rigid," she concluded that A Break with Charity "portrays an excruciating era in American history from a unique perspective." Similar praise for the work was echoed by other critics. Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Sally Kotarsky declared that Rinaldi has "once again chosen a historical character who quickly draws the reader into the story." A critic for Kirkus Reviews asserted that Rinaldi has created "an enthralling, authentic story that makes the results of compounding malicious lies with false confessions of terrified victims tragically believable."

With The Second Bend in the River Rinaldi "crafts an elegant and moving account of the budding romance between Shawnee chief Tecumseh and a young frontier girl," according to a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. Kay Weisman, writing in Booklist, also lauded the author's "attention to period details … and careful separation of fact from fiction" in this "powerfully romantic tale." In My Heart Is on the Ground Rinaldi presents the fictional diary of a twelve-year-old Sioux girl living in a Pennsylvania boarding school for Indian children. Part of Scholastic's "Dear America" series, the book is written in the form of diary entries that "burst with details about culture and custom, adding wonderful texture to this thought-provoking book," according to Booklist critic Stephanie Zvirin.

The Journal of Jonathan Pierce: A Pilgrim Boy is another Rinaldi title in journal form, telling the story of an orphaned boy, this time, who is indentured as a servant and travels on the Mayflower to the American colonies. Keep Smiling Through is also something of a departure for Rinaldi, as it is set on the home front during World War II and portrays a young girl who must come face to face with prejudice and overcome propaganda. In The Coffin Quilt the author tells the
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story of the feud between the McCoys and Hatfields, a "colorful" and "tautly plotted historical novel," according to a reviewer for Publishers Weekly.

Girl in Blue is set during the U.S. Civil War and tells of Sarah Wheelock, who runs away from her Michigan home to join the Union Army under the name of Neddy Compton. When her unit is sent to fight at the Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Sarah/Neddy kills a man before her identity is accidentally revealed and she is forced to leave the army. Through a meeting with Allan Pinkerton, who is in charge of Union spy efforts, Sarah is offered a job. She becomes a spy in the home of Rose Greenhow, a Confederate sympathizer, and figures out Rose's method of sending messages in her intricate tapestries. "Readers will find Sarah an adventurous heroine and her story an involving one," according to Carolyn Phelan in Booklist. Starr E. Smith concluded in the School Library Journal that "Rinaldi's novel offers an exciting plot based on solid historical research."

Rinaldi returns to a Civil War setting in her novel Numbering All the Bones. Eulinda is a thirteen-year-old slave on a plantation in Georgia, near the Andersonville Prison where Union prisoners are housed. As the war ends, she visits the prison camp, hoping to find her older brother, who ran away to join the Union Army and may be held prisoner there. Instead, she finds awful conditions; inadequate medical supplies and food have reduced the prisoners to little more than skeletons. Eulinda joins Clara Barton and other women to relieve the misery she finds. Later, she helps to clean up the camp and build a proper memorial to the many thousands of prisoners who died there. Farida S. Dowler in the School Library Journal noted the book's "sound research" and concluded that "the story may interest readers who want to find out more about the prison."

Or Give Me Death is a story about Patrick Henry's troubled family. While the nation is in the midst of rebellion against the British, and Henry is playing a pivotal role in the events, his wife, Sarah, is going insane. The family refuses to send her away to the questionable treatment at the mental hospital. But when Sarah tries to kill her own children, the family confines her to the cellar. Oldest daughter Patsy becomes head of the household, although she is worried that she, too, may have the same mental problems her mother faces."Rinaldi delivers another intriguing spin on history," the critic for Kirkus Reviews noted. Kimberly Monaghan in the School Library Journal found the novel"an intriguing blend of historical fact and fiction." Michael Jung, reviewing the novel for the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, called it "an engaging family drama that offers fascinating speculation on the life of the Henry family."

In Sarah's Ground, young Sarah Tracy becomes caretaker at Mount Vernon in Virginia, the historical home of George Washington. The year is 1861 and the Civil War is raging, but both sides in the conflict respect Mount Vernon and keep the fight away from it. In fact, Mount Vernon is a quiet place of refuge in the midst of war. Sarah's efforts to restore the badly maintained residence, oversee the staff of workers, and attend to the many visitors who wish to see Washington's tomb keep her busy. All the while, she is "a witness to the confusion and chaos of Northern Virginia during the war," Claire Rosser wrote in Kliatt. "Sarah learns that issues and attitudes are not always simple or predictable," Carolyn Phelan explained in Booklist, while a critic for Kirkus Reviews concluded that "Sarah's voice will win over young history buffs."

"I write young adult novels because I like it," Rinaldi once commented. "But, as with my first book, I don't write for young people. I just write; I have an aim to write good stuff for them, to treat them as people, not write down to them with stories about romance and acne and the spring dance. Real life, as I know it, as I've learned it to be from my newspaper experience and own past, goes into my books…. I draw all my characters fully, give my adults as many problems and as
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much dimension as the young protagonist. I give them good, literary writing."