Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is ''

The Devil's Arithmetic ''The Devil's Arithmetic'' is a historical fiction time slip novel written by American author Jane Yolen and published in 1988. The book is about Hannah Stern, a Jewish girl who lives in New Rochelle, New York, and is sent back in time to exper ...

'', a Holocaust novella. Her other works include the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...

−winning short story "Sister Emily's Lightship", the novelette "Lost Girls", ''

Owl Moon ''Owl Moon'' is a 1987 children's picture book by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr. It won many awards, most notably the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations,American Library AssociationCaldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present URL acce ...

'', '' The Emperor and the Kite'', the ''

Commander Toad {{unreferenced, date=May 2019 ''Commander Toad'' is a series of children's books by Jane Yolen, published by Puffin Books from 1980 to 1998. The series is a toad-themed parody of pop culture science fiction filled with puns. '' Star Wars'' is refe ...

'' series and ''How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight''. She has collaborated on works with all three of her children, most extensively with Adam Stemple. Yolen gave the lecture for the 1989 Alice G. Smith Lecture, the inaugural year for the series. This lecture series is held at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

School of Information "to honor the memory of its first director, Alice Gullen Smith, known for her work with youth and bibliotherapy." In 2012 she became the first woman to give the Andrew Lang lecture.Adams, John Joseph; Barr Kirtley, David (January 23, 2013). "Author Jane Yolen Talks Book Banning and Harry Potter". ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

''. Yolen published her 400th book in early 2021, ''Bear Outside''.

Early life

Jane Hyatt Yolen was born on February 11, 1939, at Beth Israel Medical Center in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. She is the first child of Isabell Berlin Yolen, a psychiatric social worker who became a full-time mother and homemaker upon Yolen's birth, and Will Hyatt Yolen, a journalist who wrote columns at the time for New York newspapers, and whose family emigrated from the Ukraine to the United States. Isabell also did volunteer work, and wrote short stories in her spare time. However, she was not able to sell them. Because the Hyatts, the family of Yolen's grandmother, Mina Hyatt Yolen, only had girls, a number of the children of Yolen's generation were given their last name as a middle name in order to perpetuate it. When Yolen was barely one year old, the family moved to California to accommodate Will's new job working for Hollywood film studios, doing publicity on films such as ''American Tragedy'' and '' Knut Rockne''. The family moved back to New York City prior to the birth of Yolen's brother, Steve. When Will joined the Army as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

to fight in England during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Yolen, her mother and brother lived with her grandparents, Danny and Dan, in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the U ...

. After the war, the family moved back to Manhattan, living on

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

and 97th Street until Yolen turned 13. She attended PS 93, where she enjoyed writing and singing, and became friends with future radio presenter Susan Stamberg. She also engaged writing by creating a newspaper for her apartment with her brother that she sold for five cents a copy. She was accepted to Music and Art High School. During the summer prior to that semester, she attended a Vermont

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

, which was her first involvement with the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

(Quakers). Her family also moved to a ranch house in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, where she attended Bedford Junior high for ninth grade, and then

Staples High School Staples High School is a public high school located in the town of Westport, Connecticut, United States. Staples High School is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in Dis ...

. She received a BA from

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...

in 1960 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Education from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

in 1978. After graduating she moved back to New York City.

Career

During the 1960s, Yolen held editorial positions at various magazines and publishers in New York City, including Gold Medal Books, Routledge Books, and Alfred A. Knopf Juvenile Books. From 1990 to 1996 she ran her own

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

imprint, Jane Yolen Books, at

Harcourt Brace Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City ...

. Although Yolen considered herself a poet, journalist and nonfiction writer, she became a children's book writer. Her first published book was ''Pirates in Petticoats'', which was published on her 22nd birthday. ''Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens'', ''Favorite Folktales From Around the World'', ''Xanadu'' and ''Xanadu 2'' are among the works that she has edited. Her book ''Naming Liberty'' tells the story of a Russian girl and

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( , ; 2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Early life and education Barthold ...

, the designer of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...

. She has co-written two books with her son, the writer and musician

Adam Stemple Adam Stemple is a Celtic-influenced American folk rock musician, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also the author of several fantasy short stories and novels, including two series of novels co-written with his mother, writer Jane Yolen. Ste ...

, ''Pay the Piper'' and ''Troll Bridge'', both part of the Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale series. She also wrote lyrics for the song "Robin's Complaint," recorded on the 1994 album '' Antler Dance'' by Stemple's band Boiled in Lead. Regarding the similarities between her novel '' Wizard's Hall'' and the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

'' series, Yolen has commented on

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, the author of that series:

Personal life

In 1962, Yolen married David W. Stemple. They had three children and six grandchildren. David Stemple died in March 2006. Yolen lives in Western Massachusetts. She also owns a house in Scotland, where she lives for a few months each year.

Awards

*1987 Special World Fantasy Award (for ''Favorite Folktales From Around the World'') *1989 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers (for ''The Devil's Arithmetic'') *1992 The Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal (for her body of children's literature) *1999 Nebula Award for Novelette (for "Lost Girls") September 25, 2013. *2009 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement at the 2010

World Fantasy Convention The World Fantasy Convention is an annual convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the event. Other features include an art show, a dealer's room, and an ...

. A panel of judges selects about two people annually. *2017

Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is a lifetime honor presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to no more than one living writer of fantasy or science fiction. It was inaugurated in 1975 when Rob ...

Nominations

*1984 World Fantasy Award for Anthology/Collection (for ''Tales of Wonder'') *1986 World Fantasy Award for Anthology/Collection (for ''Dragonfield and Other Stories'') *1987 World Fantasy Award for Anthology/Collection (for ''Merlin's Booke'') *1989 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella (for ''Briar Rose'') *1993 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (for ''The Devil's Arithmetic'') *2009 Sydney Taylor Book Award Younger Reader Honor (for ''Naming Liberty'', illustrated by Jim Burke) *2021 Sydney Taylor Book Award Picture Book Honor (for ''Miriam at the River'', illustrated by Khoa Le)

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards

Nominations

Bibliography

References

External links