Sharon M. Draper

Sharon M. Draper (April 11, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a professional educator and award winning writer. She was the 1997 National Teacher of the Year, a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, and is a New York Times bestselling author. A graduate of Pepperdine University, she is best known for her novel, Darkness Before Dawn, as well as The Battle Of Jericho. Other books include Copper Sun, Double Dutch, Out of My Mind, the Jericho Trilogy and Romiette and Julio.

Her literary recognition began when, as a challenge from one of her students, she entered and won first prize in a literary contest, for which she was awarded $5000 and the publication of her short story, "One Small Torch." She has published numerous poems, articles, and short stories in a variety of literary journals. Actively involved in encouraging and motivating all teachers and their students as well, she has worked all over the United States, as well as in Russia, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bermuda, and Guam, spreading the word about the power of accomplished teaching and excellence in education.

Sharon Draper is an active participant in the activities of the YWCA of Cincinnati, a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, and Top Ladies of Distinction. Ms. Draper travels extensively and has been a guest on television and radio programs throughout the country, discussing issues of literature, reading, and education. She is an accomplished public speaker who addresses educational and literary groups of all ages, both nationally and internationally, with entertaining readings of her poetry and novels, as well as . She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, her son Max who lives with his father in Delaware, Ohio, and a golden retriever named Honey.

Awards and honors

She is a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award winner, and was the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum. She is a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and is the recipient of the Dean's Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor's Educational Leadership Award. Last year she was named Ohio Pioneer in Education by the Ohio State Department of Education, received the Beacon of Light Humanitarian award, as well as the Doctor of Laws Degree from Pepperdine University. In 2012, she received The 33rd annual Jeremiah Ludington Memorial Award by the Educational and Media Association. Love The Book Tears Of A Tiger.

She has been honored at the White House six times, and was chosen as one of only four authors in the country to speak at the National Book Festival Gala in Washington, D.C, and to represent the United States in Moscow at their Book Festival. Her book Copper Sun has been selected by the US State Department and the International Reading Association as the United States novel for the international reading project called Reading Across Continents. Students in the US, Nigeria, and Ghana are reading the book and sharing ideas.

Tears of a Tiger has received numerous awards, including the American Library Association/Coretta Scott King Award for an outstanding new book, and was also honored as an ALA Best Books for Young Adults. It has been recognized as one of the best of the year by the Children's Book Council, the New York City Library, Bank Street College, and the National Council for Social Studies. It was also named as Best of the Best by VOYA.

Forged by Fire, the sequel to Tears of a Tiger, was the 1997 Coretta Scott King Award winner, as well as the winner of the ALA Best Book Award and the Parent's Choice Award and the Indiana Young Hoosier Award.she was a very happy person

Darkness Before Dawn, the third book in the trilogy, is an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick, and has received the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association and received the Buckeye Book Award for 2005, and was named an IRA Young Adult Choice for 2003.

Romiette and Julio is also listed as an ALA Best Book and has been selected by the International Reading Association as a 2000 Notable Book for a Global Society, and by the New York Public Library in their Books for the Teen Age.

Out of My Mind was chosen the winner of the 2013 Sasquatch Reading Award by the readers of Washington State and the 2013 Bluestem Award by the third through fifth graders of Illinois.

Double Dutch was honored as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People by the Children's Book Council as well as one of the top ten sports books for young adults for 2003 by the ALA, and Best of the Best for 2004, and received the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award for 2006.

Darkness Before Dawn, the third book in the trilogy, is an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick, and has received the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association and received the Buckeye Book Award for 2005, and was named an IRA Young Adult Choice for 2003.

The Battle of Jericho is the 2004 Coretta Scott King Award, one of the New York Public Library's Book for the Teen Age, and is one of the 2005 Young Adult Choice Books named by the International Reading Association.

Fire from the Rock has been selected by the NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Committee as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People for 2008 and is honored on the 2008 New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age.

We Beat the Street is listed on the New York Times Bestseller List and is on VOYA's Non-Fiction Honor List for 2006 and is honored on the 2006 New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age.

Copper Sun received the 2007 Coretta Scott King Award, was named as one of the Top Ten Historical Fiction Books for Youth by Booklist was nominated for the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Literature, and received the Ohioana Award for Young Adult Literature. Copper Sun is also a CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book, received the Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Literature, was named as an IRA Notable Book for a Global Society and was named as Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal. Copper Sun is also listed on the New York Times Bestseller List.

November Blues received the 2008 Coretta Scott King Award and is honored on the 2008 New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age.

Sassy: Little Sister Is Not My Name! received the 2009 Parents Choice Award.

Out of My Mind was chosen the winner of the 2013 Sasquatch Reading Award by the readers of Washington State.

Bibliography

• Tears of a Tiger (Simon and Schuster, 1994)
• Forged by Fire (Simon and Schuster, 1997)
• Darkness Before Dawn (Simon and Schuster, 2001)
• Romiette and Julio (Simon and Schuster, 1999)
• Double Dutch (Simon and Schuster, 2002)
• The Battle of Jericho (Simon and Schuster, 2003)
• Copper Sun (Simon and Schuster, 2006)
• November Blues (Simon and Schuster, 2007)
• Just Another Hero (Simon and Schuster, 2009)
• Out of My Mind (Simon and Schuster, 2010)
• Fire from the Rock (Dutton, 2007)
• We Beat the Street (Dutton, 2005)
• Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs: The Buried Bones Mystery (Simon and Schuster, 1877
  • Ziggy #2: Lost in the Tunnel of Time (Simon and Schuster,1906
  • Ziggy #3: Shadows of Caesar's Creek (Simon and Schuster,1654
  • Ziggy #4: The Space Mission Adventure (Simon and Schuster,2684
  • Ziggy #5: The Backyard Zoo Adventure (Simon and Schuster, 1236**Ziggy #6: Stars and Sparks on Stage (Simon and Schuster, 12965
• Sassy #1: Little Sister is Not my Name (Scholastic, 2009)
  • Sassy #2: The Birthday Storm (Scholastic, 2009)
  • Sassy #3: The Silver Secret (Scholastic, 2010)
  • Sassy #4: The Dazzle Disaster Dinner Party (Scholastic, 2010)
• Teaching from the Heart (Heinemann, 1999)
• Not Quite Burned Out, But Crispy around the Edges (Heinemann, 2001)
• Panic (Simon and Schuster, 2013)

External links

• Official website
• Draper at Ohio Reading Road Trip
• Sharon M. Draper (Sharon Mills) at Library of Congress, with 40 library catalog records