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Cynthia Kadohata

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Cynthia Kadohata
Kadohata in 2014-2015
Kadohata in 2014-2015
Born (1956-07-02) July 2, 1956 (age 68)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
OccupationWriter
Alma materUSC
GenreChildren's and Young-adult literature
Notable works
Notable awardsWhiting Award
1991
Newbery Medal
2005
PEN USA
2006
National Book Award
2013
ChildrenSammy
Website
www.cynthiakadohata.com

Cynthia Kadohata (born July 2, 1956)[1] is a Japanese American children's writer best known for her young adult novel Kira-Kira which won the Newbery Medal in 2005.[2] She won the National Book Award in Young People's Literature in 2013 for The Thing About Luck.[3]

Biography

Kadohata was born in Chicago, Illinois.[1] Her first published short story appeared in The New Yorker in 1986. She received a BA in journalism from the University of Southern California. She also attended graduate programs at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University.

Weedflower, her second children's book, was published in Spring 2006. It is about the Poston internment camp where her father was imprisoned during World War II. Her third children's novel, Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam about the Vietnam War from a war dog's perspective, was published in January 2007 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Outside Beauty, another children's novel, was published in 2008. It is about a 13-year-old girl and her three sisters, all fathered by different men and what happens when she and her sisters are separated from each other after their mother gets into an accident.

Kadohata lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend, son, and dogs.

Novels

  • The Floating World (Viking, 1989)[4]
  • In the Heart of the Valley of Love (Viking, 1992)[1]
  • The Glass Mountains (Clarkston, GA, White Wolf Pub, 1995), illus. Terese Nielson and Larry S. Friedman[1][5]
  • Kira-Kira (Atheneum, 2004)
Newbery Medal [2]
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Youth Literature [6]
PEN USA Award
  • Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam (Atheneum, 2007)
California Young Reader Medal, 2011[7]
North Carolina Children's Book Award, Ohio Buckeye Children's Book Award, Nebraska Golden Sower, Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award, South Carolina Junior Book Award
  • Outside Beauty (Atheneum, 2008)
  • A Million Shades of Gray (Atheneum, 2010)
  • The Thing About Luck (Atheneum, 2013), illustrated by Julia Kuo[8]
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Youth Literature [9]
  • Half a World Away (Atheneum, 2014)[10]
  • Checked (Atheneum, 2018)
  • A Place to Belong (Atheneum, 2019)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Cynthia Kadohata at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-11-22. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  2. ^ a b "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922–Present". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). American Library Association (ALA).
      "The John Newbery Medal". ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  3. ^ "2013 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2013-11-22. With short interviews of winners and finalists.
  4. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (1989-06-30). "Books of The Times; Growing Up Rootless in an Immigrant Family". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  5. ^ Cynthia Kadohata in libraries (WorldCat catalog). Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  6. ^ "2005-2006 AWARDS WINNERS". APALA. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Booklist – Middle School / Junior High" Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine. California Young Reader Medal. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  8. ^ Goddu, Krystyna Poray (2013-06-14). "'The Favorite Daughter' and 'The Thing About Luck'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  9. ^ "2013-2014 AWARDS WINNERS". APALA. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. ^ RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA (17 Oct 2014). "Sunday Book Review: 'Half a World Away' by Cynthia Kadohata". New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  • Staff (September 2007) "Cynthia Kadohata 1956– " Biography Today 15(3) pp. 38–49