Jennifer L. Holm (born June 16, 1968)[a] is an American children's writer, and recipient of three
Newbery Honors and the
Eisner Award.[3][4]
Biography
Holm was born in 1968 in
San Diego, California.[a][5] She spent her early life living on
Whidbey Island on the
Puget Sound in
Washington state,[6] before her family relocated to
Audubon, Pennsylvania, with her four brothers. She attended
Methacton High School for four years. After graduating from
Dickinson College in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, she worked in television and later began to write.[citation needed]Our Only May Amelia, the story of a 12-year-old girl living in late-19th century in coastal southwestern Washington state, inspired by a diary written by her great aunt, became her first published novel and was a 2000
Newbery Honor Book. Holm also has written a series featuring Jane Peck, a young woman living in the 1850s (Boston Jane: An Adventure, Boston Jane: Wilderness Days and Boston Jane: The Claim); The Creek, a horror thriller; Babymouse and Squish, series of graphic novels for children illustrated by her brother
Matthew; and The Stink Files, a series co-written with her husband Jonathan Hamel featuring James Edward Bristlefur, a cat raised by a British secret agent who is adopted by an American family and renamed Mr. Stink after his owner is murdered. Penny from Heaven, a story set in the 1950s featuring an 11-year-old Italian-American girl, was a 2007 Newbery Honor recipient. Turtle in Paradise, which is set in the
Great Depression in
Key West,
Florida, was a 2011 Newbery Honor recipient. Babymouse for President won the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7).
Our Only May Amelia has been adapted for the stage by John Olive. The River Theater in
Astoria, Oregon, performed it for its 2006 summer run, in conjunction with FinnFest USA '06. The events of the play (and book) were set just north of Astoria in
Naselle, Washington.
^
abIn the acknowledgements of Holm's book Penny from Heaven, she gives thanks to her mother, Penny Scaccia.[1] The
California Birth Index lists a Jennifer L. Holm born in San Diego on June 16, 1968 to a Mrs. Scaccia, which corroborates her birthdate.[2]
References
^Holm, Jennifer L. (2007). Penny from Heaven. New York: Random House. p. 274.
ISBN978-0-375-84926-8.