Barbara Brooks Wallace (December 3, 1922 – November 27, 2018) was an American children's writer. She won the NLAPW Children's Book Award and

International Youth Library The International Youth Library (IYL) (, IJB) in Munich is a library that specializes in the collection of children and youth literature from around the world in order to make them available to the public, focusing on the international community. ...

"Best of the Best" for ''Claudia'' (2001) and

William Allen White Children's Book Award The William Allen White Children's Book Award is a set of two annual awards for books selected by vote of Kansas schoolchildren from lists prepared by committee. As a single award it was established in 1952 by Ruth Garver Gagliardo, a children's ...

for ''Peppermints in the Parlor'' (1983).

Early life

Wallace was born and spent her childhood in China, where she attended

Shanghai American School Shanghai American School (SAS) is an independent, Non-profit international school located in Shanghai, China. Founded in 1912, SAS has two campuses and over 2,800 students enrolled in Pre-K through 12th grade, making it China's largest internatio ...

, but came to live in the United States during high school.

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

was a port of entry for the family many times. She graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

where she was
member
of the

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the fou ...

sorority.

Career

Wallace won

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

s from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

for both ''The Twin in the Tavern'' (1994)Profile
, lib.tx.us; accessed September 27, 2015. and ''Sparrows in the Scullery'' (1998). ''Cousins in The Castle'' (1997) and ''Ghosts in the Gallery'' (2001) were also nominated for the Edgar Award. Wallace's books are often compared to

Lemony Snicket Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published several children's books under the name, most notably ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 million copies and s ...

as well as books by Joan Lowery Nixon and

Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of chapter books, children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide sin ...

. She has also received high praise from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

. In 2009, Wallace tapped the creative development group

Pangea Corporation Pangea Corporation is an entertainment development and creative services company that specializes in the animation and toy industries. The company was part of the original creative team that launched the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" for Playmates ...

to develop her series of books into animated and live action entertainment. Her '' Miss Switch'' series had previously enjoyed popular installments on ''

ABC Weekend Special ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to bo ...

'', garnering the high

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. Wallace's ''Hawkins'' books were also featured as live action films on ''ABC Weekend Special''. Wallace's novel ''Diary of a Little Devil'' was published as a digital eBook in September 2011. The deal was the result of Pangea's efforts and culminates with additional books to be released in the same manner, including a new installment to the Miss Switch series:
Miss Switch and the Vile Villains
'.

Death

Wallace died November 27, 2018 in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

from complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at the age of 95.

Books

*''Secret in St. Something'' *''Peppermints in the Parlor'' *''The Perils of Peppermints'' *''The Barrel in the Basement'' *''The Interesting Thing That Happened At Perfect Acres, Inc.'' *''Hello Claudia!'' *''Claudia and Duffy'' *''Victoria'' *''Can Do, Missy Charlie'' *''The Secret Summer of L.E.B.'' *''Andrew the Big Deal'' *''Julia and the Third Bad Thing'' *''Palmer Patch'' *''The Hawkins Series'' *''Miss Switch Online'' *''Miss Switch to the Rescue'' *''The Trouble with Miss Switch'' *''Argyle'' *''Ghosts in the Gallery'' *''Cousins in the Castle'' *''Miss Switch's Bathsheba & The Cat Caper'' (co-authored with John C. Besmehn)

References

External links

*
National League of American Pen Women, Inc. website

* (including 1 "from old catalog") {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Barbara Brooks 1922 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American mystery writers Edgar Award winners University of California, Los Angeles alumni American women novelists Women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers