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Gloria Whelan

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Gloria Whelan
BornGloria Rewoldt
(1923-11-23) November 23, 1923 (age 100)
Detroit, Michigan
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A. 1945, M.S.W. 1948
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Childrentwo

Gloria Whelan (November 23, 1923 – ) is an American poet, short story writer, and novelist for children and adults.[1] She won the 2000 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for the novel Homeless Bird.[2]

Whelan's books include many historical fiction novels, including a trilogy set on Mackinac Island and a quartet series set in communist Russia. Whelan is also the author of short stories which have appeared in The Ontario Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, and other literary quarterlies. Her collection of short stories, Playing with Shadows, was published by the Illinois Press. Her stories have appeared in several anthologies and in Prize Stories: the O. Henry Awards. Whelan is, according to Liz Rosenberg in the Chicago Tribune, "an accomplished, graceful, and intelligent writer."

Early life

Gloria was the daughter of William Rewoldt and Hildegarde Kilwinski Rewoldt, born 1923 in Detroit. She read many books as a girl, sometimes dictated stories that her baby sitter transcribed, and wrote poetry. She edited the high school newspaper.[3]

She earned the bachelor's degree in 1945 and the Master of Social Work in 1948 at the University of Michigan. Also in 1948 she and neurologist Joseph L. Whelan were married. They had two children and lived in the Detroit area where she was employed in social work.[3] During that time she also wrote short stories and poetry.

Northern Michigan

The deGrummond Children's Literature Collection at University of Southern Mississippi holds her papers. According to that archive:[3]

In 1972, weary of the hectic pace of life in Detroit, the Whelans moved to a cabin on Oxbow Lake in the woods of northern Michigan, outside the small town of Mancelona. Their peace was soon disturbed, however, by an oil company that intended to drill on their property. Since the Whelans did not own the mineral rights to the land, the company razed three acres and sank an unsuccessful well, after which it departed. The experience inspired Whelan to write a children's novel about a young boy who worked on an oilrig. It was published as A Clearing in the Forest in 1978.

That was her first book.

Established career

Whelan was almost fifty-five when Putnam published A Clearing in the Forest in July 1978. In nearly thirty-five years since then, she has written fifty-two books of fiction for children and young adults. Many have been set in rural northern Michigan, where she may be considered a regional author, but her settings include Africa, China, Vietnam, India, Czarist and communist Russia.[3]

Listening for Lions is set in 1919 British East Africa (now in Kenya).

Awards and honors

Works

  • Small Acts of Amazing Courage (2011)
  • See What I See (2010)
  • The Listeners (2009)
  • Waiting for the Owl's Call (2009)
  • The Locked Garden (2009)
  • K is for Kabuki (2009)
  • After the Train (2009)
  • The Disappeared (2008)
  • Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers (picture book) (2008)
  • Parade of Shadows (2007)
  • Yatandou (picture book) (2007)
  • Summer of the War (2006)
  • The Turning (Russian Saga / Book 4) (2006)
  • Mackinac Bridge / The Story of the Five-Mile Poem (picture book) (2006)
  • Listening for Lions (2005)
  • Chu Ju's House (2004)
  • Burying the Sun (Russian Saga / Book 3) (2004)
  • Friend on Freedom River (picture book) (2004)
  • The Impossible Journey (Russian Saga / Book 2) (2003)
  • A Haunted House in Starvation Lake (Starvation Lake / Book 4) (2003)
  • Are There Bears in Starvation Lake? (Starvation Lake / Book 3) (2002)
  • The Wanigan: A Life on the River (2002)
  • Fruitlands: Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect (2002)
  • Jam and Jelly by Holly and Nellie (picture book) (2002)
  • Rich and Famous in Starvation Lake (Starvation Lake / Book 2) (2001)
  • Angel on the Square (Russian Saga / Book 1) (2001)
  • Homeless Bird (2000)
  • Welcome to Starvation Lake (Starvation Lake / Book 1) (2000)
  • Return to the Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy / Book 3) (2000)
  • Miranda's Last Stand (1999)
  • Forgive the River, Forgive the Sky (1998)
  • Farewell to the Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy / Book 2) (1998)
  • The Shadow of the Wolf (1997)
  • The Miracle of St. Nicholas (picture book) (1997)
  • Friends (1997)
  • The Indian School (1996)
  • Once On This Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy / Book 1) (1995)
  • That Wild Berries Should Grow (1994)
  • Night of the Full Moon (Libby Mitchell Trilogy / Book 2) (1993)
  • Goodbye, Vietnam (1992)
  • Bringing the Farmhouse Home (picture book) (1992)
  • Hannah (1991)
  • The Secret Keeper (1990)
  • Silver (1988)
  • A Week of Raccoons (picture book) (1988)
  • Playing With Shadows (adult book) (1988)
  • The Ambassador's Wife (adult book)
  • The President's Mother (adult book)
  • Next Spring an Oriole (Libby Mitchell Trilogy / Book 1) (1987)
  • The Pathless Woods (1981)
  • A Time to Keep Silent (1979)
  • A Clearing in the Forest (1978)

References

  1. ^ "Whelan, Gloria". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 6 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ "National Book Awards – 2000". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  3. ^ a b c d "Gloria Whelan Papers". de Grummond Children's Literature Collection. The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries. Retrieved 2012-01-26.

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