Andrew Elborn Clements (May 29, 1949 – November 28, 2019) was an American author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

Frindle ''Frindle'' is a middle-grade American children’s novel written by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Brian Selznick, and published by Aladdin Paperbacks in 1996. It was the winner of the 2016 Phoenix Award, which is granted by the Children's ...

'' won an award determined by the vote of U.S. schoolchildren in about 20 different U.S. states. In June 2015, ''Frindle'' was named the

Phoenix Award The Phoenix Award annually recognizes one English-language children's book published twenty years earlier that did not then win a major literary award. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix that is reborn from its own ashes, signifying the boo ...

winner for 2016, as it was the best book that did not win a major award when it was published.

Life

Clements was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, and lived in nearby

Oaklyn Oaklyn is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,930, a decrease of 108 (−2.7%) from the 2010 census count of 4,038, which in turn reflected a decline ...

and

Cherry Hill Cherry Hill often refers to: * Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a township in Camden County, New Jersey * Cherry Hill, Prince William County, Virginia, a census-designated place Cherry Hill may also refer to: Places Canada * Cherry Hill, Nova Scotia, a ...

before moving to

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

as a pre-teen. As a child, he enjoyed summers at a lakeside cabin in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

where he spent his days swimming, hiking, water skiing, and his evenings reading books. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and a Masters of Arts in Elementary Education from

National Louis University National Louis University (NLU) is a private nonprofit university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. NLU enrolls undergraduate and graduate students in more than 60 programs across its four colleges. It has locations throughout the Chica ...

, he worked as a teacher, sharing his love of reading with elementary, middle, and high school students. He worked for several publishing companies where he published, acquired, edited, marketed, and developed quality children's books. In 1985, Clements added his own work to the market with a picture book entitled ''Bird Delbert''. His first novel was the award-winning ''

'', which has won 16 state book awards, as well as the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

. Clements was married to the former Rebecca Pierpont, and they had four sons. He died at his home in

Baldwin, Maine Baldwin is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,520 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. History First called Flintstown Plantation, it was granted in 177 ...

, on November 28, 2019, at age 70 from an undisclosed illness.

Awards

The

Children's Literature Association The Children's Literature Association (ChLA) is a non-profit association, based in the United States, of scholars, critics, professors, students, librarians, teachers, and institutions dedicated to studying children's literature.Margaret W. Denman ...

named ''Frindle'' the best English-language children's book published in 1996 that did not win a major contemporary book award, thus making it the winner of the

for 2016."Phoenix Award"
. Children's Literature Association (childlitassn.org). June 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.

Contemporary Awards

* 2001: Utah Children's Choice Award * 1999–2000: Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award * 1999: Texas Children's Crown Award * 1999: Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice, (WA, OR, MT, AK, ID, AB, BC) * 1999: South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award * 1999: Sasquatch Children's Book Award, (WA) * 1999: Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award, (IL) * 1998–1999: Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, 4–6 * 1998–1999: Young Hoosier Book Award, (IN) * 1998–1999: North Carolina Children's Choice Award * 1998–1999: Nevada Young Readers' Award * 1998–1999: Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award, (AR) * 1998–1999: Maud Hart Lovelace Award, MN Youth Reading Award * 1998–1999: Georgia Children's Book Award * 1998–1999: William Allen White Children's Book Award, (KS) * 1998–1999: Massachusetts Children's Book Award * 1998:

Prize Cento The Children's Literature Prize "Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cento" is an international competition aimed at authors of children's books (elementary school, elementary and middle school) in Italian language, Italian, original or translated. ...

, Cento, Italy * 1998: Rhode Island Children's Book Award * 1997–1998: Great Stone Face Book Award, (NH) * 1997: Judy Lopez Memorial Honor Book (L.A.)Award * 1997: Christopher Award * 1998–1999 Georgia children's book award

Listings and recommendations

* 1999: Capitol Choices list, best books for ages 7–10 * 1998: Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best * 1997–1998: Indiana Read-Alouds Too Good to Miss * 1997: Horn Book Magazine Fanfare Book * 1997: Parents' Choice Honor Book * 1996: New York Public Library One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing

Other

*2004: California Young Readers Medal, ''The School Story'' *2004: American Library Association

Schneider Family Book Award The Schneider Family Book Award is an award given by the American Library Association (ALA) recognizing authors and illustrators for the excellence of portrayal of the disability experience in literature for youth. There is a category for children ...

, '' Things Not Seen'' *2007: Edgar Allan Poe Award for best juvenile book, ''Room One: A Mystery or Two'' *2015: Phoenix Award for ''Frindle''

Bibliography

For all

* (As Andrew Elborn) ''Noah and the Ark and the Animals'', illustrated by Ivan Gantschev, Picture Book Studio (Saxonville, MA), 1987. *''Santa's Secret Helper'', illustrated by Deborah Santini, Picture Book Studio (Saxonville, MA), 1990. *''Temple Cat'', illustrated by Alan Marks, Picture Book Studio, 1991, illustrated by Kate Kiesler, Clarion (New York, NY), 1996. *''Mother Earth's Counting Book'', illustrated by Lonni Sue Johnson, Picture Book Studio, 1992. *''Billy and the Bad Teacher'', illustrated by Elivia Savadier, Picture Book Studio, 1992. *''Who Owns the Cow?'', illustrated by Joan Landis, Clarion (New York, NY), 1995. *''Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers'', illustrated by Kate Kiesler, Clarion (New York, NY), 1996. *''

'' (middle-grade novel), illustrated by Brian Selznick, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996. *(Adapter) ''Philipp's Birthday Book'', illustrated by Hanne Turk, North-South Books, 1996. *''Riff's BeBop Book'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996. *''Real Monsters Go for the Mold!'', illustrated by Matthew Stoddart, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. *''Things That Go EEK on Halloween'', illustrated by George Ulrich, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. *''Real Monsters Stage Fright'', illustrated by Matthew Stoddart, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. *''Music Time, Any Time!'', illustrated by Tom Leigh, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. *''Double Trouble in Walla Walla'', illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1997. *''Workshop'', illustrated by David Wisniewski, Clarion (New York, NY), 1998. *''Gromble's Haunted Halloween'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1998. *''Hey Dad, Could I Borrow Your Hammer?'', illustrated by Jackie Snider, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1999. *''

The Landry News ''The Landry News'' is a children's book by Andrew Clements first published in the United States in 1999 by Aladdin. Plot summary Cara Landry, a student in Mr. Larson's 5th grade classroom, publishes her own newspaper titled "The Landry News" ...

'', (middle-grade novel), illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999. *''Look Who's in the Thanksgiving Play!'', illustrated by Mavis Smith, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1999. *''The Mouse Family'', illustrated by Simon Galkin, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2000. *''

The Janitor's Boy ''The Janitor's Boy'' is a children's book by Andrew Clements. Part of his school series, it was released by Simon & Schuster in 2000. Plot summary The book tells the story of a school student, Jack Rankin, whose father is the janitor of his sch ...

'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2000. *''Circus Family Dog'', illustrated by Sue Truesdell, Clarion (New York, NY), 2000. *''The Christmas Kitten'', illustrated by Simon Galkin, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2000. *''

The School Story ''The School Story'' is a 2001 children's novel by American author Andrew Clements. It is about two twelve-year-old girls who try to get a school story published. The audiobook is narrated by American actress Spencer Kayden. Plot summary As ...

'', illustrated by Brian Selznick, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001. *'' Things Not Seen'' (middle-grade novel), Philomel (New York, NY), 2002. *''

The Jacket ''The Jacket'' is a 2005 American science-fiction psychological thriller film directed by John Maybury and starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It is partly based on the 1915 Jack London novel ' ...

'' (originally serialized in Boston Globe), illustrated by McDavid Henderson, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002. *'' A Week in the Woods'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002. *''Slippers at Home'', illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004. *''Naptime for Slippers'', illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004. *'' The Report Card'', illustrated by Brian Selznick, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004. *'' The Last Holiday Concert'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004. *''Slippers at School'', illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005. *''Slippers Loves to Run'', illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005. *''A Million Is a Lot of Dots'', illustrated by Rob Roth, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005. *''Lunch Money'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005. *'' Things Hoped For'', Philomel Books (New York, NY), 2006 *'' Room One: A Mystery or Two'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006 *'' No Talking'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007 *'' Things That Are'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2008 *''

Lost and Found A lost and found (American English) or lost property (British English), or lost articles (also Canadian English) is an office in a public building or area where people can go to retrieve Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property, lost articles th ...

'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2008 *'' Extra Credit'', Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2009 *''Troublemaker'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2011 *''About Average'', Atheneum Books , 2012 *''The Map Trap'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2014 *''The Losers Club,'' Random House Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2017 *''The Friendship War'', Random House Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2019 *''The Frindle Files,'' Random House Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2024

''Pets to the Rescue'' series

* ''Ringo Saves the Day!: A True Story'', illustrated by Ellen Beier, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001. * ''Brave Norman: A True Story'', illustrated by Ellen Beier, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001. * ''Tara and Tiree, Fearless Friends: A True Story'', illustrated by Ellen Beier, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002. * ''Delores and the Big Fire: A True Story'', illustrated by Ellen Beier, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

''Jake Drake'' series

* ''Jake Drake Know-It-All'', illustrated by Dolores Avenaño, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001. * ''Jake Drake, Bully Buster'', illustrated by Amanda Harvey, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001. * ''Jake Drake, Teacher's Pet'', illustrated by Dolores Avenaño, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002. * ''Jake Drake, Class Clown'', illustrated by Dolores Avenaño, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

''Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School'' series

* ''We the Children'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2010 * ''Fear Itself'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2011 * ''The Whites of Their Eyes'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2012 * ''In Harm's Way'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2013 (with Adam Stower) * ''We Hold These Truths'', Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2013

Reading program books

* ''Karen's Island'', Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995. * ''Three Wishes for Buster'', Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995. * ''Bill Picket: An American Original'', Texas Style, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1996. * ''Hurricane Andrew'', Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1998. * ''Ham and Eggs for Jack'', Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1998. * ''Life in the Desert'', Steck-Vaughn, 1998. * ''Desert Treasure'', illustrated by Wayne Anthony Still, Steck-Vaughn, 1998. * ''Inventors: Making Things Better'', Steck-Vaughn, 1998. * ''Milo's Great Invention'', illustrated by Johnansen Newman, Steck-Vaughn, 1998.

References

External links

* *
Andrew Clements at Fantastic Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Andrew 1949 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American children's writers National Louis University alumni Northwestern University alumni People from Baldwin, Maine Writers from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Oaklyn, New Jersey Writers from Camden, New Jersey Writers from Maine Writers from Springfield, Illinois