Ruth White (children's author)
Ruth C. White (born March 15, 1942) is an American children's writer. Her novel Belle Prater's Boy was a Newbery Honor Book in 1997.
Biography
Although Ruth White's family were extremely poor, her parents had a great love of literature. She was educated at small, badly resourced county schools, but praises her "excellent, caring teachers".[1]
When she was six years old, her father, who was a coal miner, was killed in a brawl (and the attacker sent to prison for 20 years). Her mother moved to a place near the town of .Whitewood, Virginia. When White was in the eighth grade the family moved to Michigan, but she returned to Grundy to finish high-school while living with an aunt and uncle. These incidents form part of the story in her book Sweet Creek Holler.
White's book Belle Prater's Boy was named a 1997 Newbery Honor book. White and her sisters grew up in the coal-mining town of Whitewood, Virginia. They played in the hills and creeks, enjoyed family read-alouds, and sang every song they heard. White has been a teacher and a school librarian in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. For a while, she lived in Virginia Beach, but now she lives in Pennsylvania.
Work
- The City Rose, as Ruth White Miller (1977), an African-American adventure story
- Sweet Creek Holler, a poor girl's story about growing up in Southwest Virginia
- Weeping Willow, a story about friendship, love, pain, and coming of age also set in Southwest Virginia
- Belle Prater's Boy, Newbery Honor Book about friendship, love, and understanding
- Memories of Summer a story about love, patience, and understanding.
- Tadpole
- Buttermilk Hill, a sequel to "Weeping Willow"
- The Search for Belle Prater, a sequel to "Belle Prater's Boy"
- Way Down Deep
- Little Audrey
- The Treasure of Way Down Deep
References
- ↑ Stimmen, Jane (March 6, 2009). "An interview with Ruth White, author of Little Audrey". World Socialist Web Site. ICFI. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
- Other sources
- Interview by ALAN, The ALAN Review, Winter 1995
- Biography at publisher Scholastic
- Reviews
- "Newbery Medal and Honor Award Books", American Library Association
External links
- Official website
- Ruth White at Library of Congress Authorities, with 14 catalog records