(person) by junkpile Thu Sep 14 2000 at 17:37:26

Katherine Paterson was born in Qing Jiang, Jiangsu, China, in 1932. Her parents were Christian missionaries to China. By the time she was fifteen, the family had moved fifteen times. She often felt lonely and estranged from everyone her own age, and loved to read and write stories as a way of overcoming her loneliness, though when she was young she she never planned on becoming an author.

Paterson attended King College in Bristol, Tennessee and went to grad school in Richmond, Virginia. Her teachers encouraged her to write seriously. She was terrified of being a failure or not being the best at anything she might attempt. It took nine years of trying for her first book, Sign of the Chrysanthemum, to be published in 1991.

Bridge to Terabithia is based on a true story, about her son and his best friend.

Katherine Paterson's birthday is Halloween and her middle name is Womeldorf! She's written piles and heaps of excellent children's books. Would you like a list? All right.


The Angel and the Donkey

Angels & Other Strangers

Bridge To Terabithia (Newbery Medal 1978)

Celia and the Sweet, Sweet Water

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo

Consider The Lilies

Flip-Flop Girl

Gates of Excellence

The Great Gilly Hopkins (Newbery Honor Award 1979)

Images Of God

Jacob Have I Loved (Newbery Medal 1981)

Jip, His Story (The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction 1997)

The King's Equal

Lyddie

Marvin's Best Christmas Ever

The Master Puppeteer (National Book Award for Children's Literature 1977)

A Midnight Clear

Of Nightingales That Weep

Park's Quest

Parzival, The Quest of the Grail Knight

Preacher's Boy

Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom

The Sign of the Chrysanthemum

The Smallest Cow In the World

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks

Who Am I?

The Spying Heart

A Sense of Wonder


She's received approximately a bazillion other awards, including a bunch that were voted on by children, which means they really count. To learn more, visit www.terabithia.com, which is a nice site despite its stupidlooking font.

I like it! 3 C!s

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