Dyan Sheldon is an American novelist, who has written for adults,

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

and

young adults In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

. Originally from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, she resides in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and has written a number of young adult novels as well as many

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

in a variety of genres. Dyan Sheldon's novel '' Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen'', a #1

New York Times bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

, was made into a movie of the same name by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in 2004, starring

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...

Early life and career

Dyan Sheldon was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

with her parents when she was six years old. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Sheldon worked as a

blurb A blurb is a short promotional piece accompanying a piece of creative work. It may be written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others. Blurbs were originally printed on the back or rear dust jacket of a book. With the development ...

writer and then as a

commissioning editor In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether to contract a book is taken by a senior m ...

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

in London. Sheldon is a former fellow of

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

from 2018 to 2021. Sheldon's first book was published in 1982, an adults fiction novel called ''Victim of Love''. Her first picture book was ''A Witch Got on at Paddington Station'' published in 1987 and her first children's novel was ''Harry and Chicken'' published in 1990.

''The Whales Song''

''The Whales Song'' is a picture book written by Dyan Sheldon and illustrated by Gary Blythe aimed at children. The story is about a young girl named Lily who, inspired by a story by her grandmother about the mysterious whales in the bay, longs to hear their magical song. The book was first published in 1991 by Hutchinson. A 1991 review by ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' says "in a spare, poetic narrative, Sheldon captures a child's wonder at these magnificent creatures, echoed, in a splendid debut, in Blythe's generously broad oil paintings." ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' reviewed the book in 1991 describes the book as "haunting" and "evocative". ''The Whales Song'' won the Kate Greenway Medal for illustration in 1991.

''Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen''

''Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen'' is teenage fiction book written by Dyan Sheldon about Lola who moves from New York to Dellwood Falls and tries to settle into her new high-school including her rivalry with the school's resident drama queen, Carla. The book was first published in 1999 by

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. History Sebastian Walker launched Walker Boo ...

. It was adapted into a theatrical film by

in 2004, starring

. A sequel, ''

My (Not So) Perfect Life ''My Perfect Life'' is a young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, ...

'' was published in 2002.

Personal life

Dyan Sheldon currently lives in London.

Works

Adult novels

* ''Victim of Love (novel), Victim of Love'' (1982) * ''Dreams of an Average Man'' (1985) * ''My Life as a Whale'' (1992) * ''On the Road Reluctantly/Dream Catching'' (1996)

Young adult novels

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Haunted series

Planet Jane series

* ''And Baby Makes Two'' (2000) * '' Sophie Pitt-Turnbull Discovers America'' (2005) * ''Perfect (Quintano novel), Perfect'' (as D. M. Quintano) (2005) * ''I Conquer Britain'' (2006) * ''My Worst Best Friend'' (2010) * ''Away for the weekend'' (2011) * ''Tall, Thin and Blonde'' (2012) * ''More than one way to be a girl'' (2017)

Children's novels

Harry series

Lizzie and Charley series

Undercover Angel series

* ''My Brother Is a Visitor from Another Planet'' (1992) * ''Only Binky'' (1993) * ''Bad Place for a Bus Stop'' (1994) * ''The Difficulties of Keeping Time'' (2008)

Picture books

* ''The Whales' Song'' (1991) * ''Under the Moon'' (1994) (alternative title, ''The Garden'') * ''Unicorn Dreams'' (1997) (alternative title, ''Unicorn City'') * ''The Last Angel'' (2003) * ''Vampire Across the Way'' (2004)

References

External links

*
Dyan Sheldon at Fantastic Fiction
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Dyan Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American women novelists American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Year of birth missing (living people)