Deborah Wiles

Deborah Wiles (born 1953, Mobile, Alabama, USA) is an award-winning children's book author. She received a National Book Award nomination for Each Little Bird That Sings.

Personal life

Wiles started her education at Pearl Harbor Elementary School. Ms. Wiles was born in Alabama and grew up summers in Mississippi. She now lives in Atlanta Georgia. She remembers living during the civil rights movement, and recalls how she did not understand why the colored were separated.

Works

Her first novel, Love, Ruby Lavender, is about a nine year old girl, Ruby, who lives in Hallelujah, Mississippi. In this book, her Grandmother of a best friend takes a vacation to Hawaii, leaving Ruby to put up with Melba Jane, who will not stop bothering her since the incident with their fathers. She writes and receives many letters to and from her Grandmother, chronicaling her summer. The novel was an ALA Notable Children's Book, a BookSense 76 Pick, an NCTE Notable Children's Trade Book in the Language Arts, a New York Public Library 100 Titles For Reading and Sharing title, and a Parent's Guide Children's Media Award Winner.

Her Second novel 'Each Little Bird that Sings' is about Comfort Snowberger who lives in Snapfinger Mississippi. Her family lives in a funeral that they run, and Comfort writes obituaries for the paper. She knows exactly what flowers to bring, what dish to take, and who not to bring to a visitation and funeral, since she has been to at least 200. Number one on that last list is her sniffling, whiney, cousin Peaches. When her Great-great-Aunt Florentine dies, straight after her uncle Edisto, all Comfort wants to do is curl up in her closet and hide with her big dog, Dismay, even if it is the most important funeral of her life so far. Unfortunately, she has to go, and take whiny Peaches with her, and on top of that, her best friend Declaration is turning downright mean. Tis book teaches that life is full of surprises, and the biggest one is learning how to handle them. 'Each Little Bird that Sings' was a National Book Award Finalist.

Her final novel, 'The Aurora County All-stars' is about a young picther named House. His team, the Aurora County All-stars, is a small community team that has only one game every year at four-o-clock, and nobody wants to miss it for a thing. Unfortunately for House, his picthing elbow was broken before the game, and so his team lost. This year though, he was going to give that game all he had. It was the town's 200th anniversary that year though, so the town decided to hold a pageant, the director being Frances Shotz, the same girl who broke House's elbow in the first place. And worse, every kid must take part in this pageant, that just so happens to be at the same time as the big game. 'The Aurora County All-Stars' shows what it truly means to be strong, and to cooperate.

Wiles has worked as a journalist and a radio commentator. She currently teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College.

Many of her books feature southern settings, themes, and dialects, reflecting her Southern background - she was born in Alabama and as a girl, spent summers in Mississippi. She now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bibliography

Novels

• The Aurora County All Stars(due 2007)
• Each Little Bird That Sings (2005)
• Love, Ruby Lavender (2001)

Picture books

• Freedom Summer (book) (2005)
• One Wide Sky (2001)

External links

• Official site