Frances O'Roark Dowell is an American author of middle-grade fiction, including '' Dovey Coe'' (2000), '' The Secret Language of Girls'', ''Shooting the Moon'', ''and Falling In''. Her books have received numerous awards, including an

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

(''Dovey Coe''), the

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 ...

(''Dovey Coe''), 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 ...

(''Shooting the Moon''), the VOYA Book Award (''Where I'd Like to Be''), and the

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

for Excellence in Children's Fiction, Honor Book (''Shooting the Moon''). ''Dovey Coe'' has been translated into Chinese, French and German. ''The Secret Language of Girls'' has been translated into Polish.

Biography

The daughter of a US Army lawyer, Frances O'Roark Dowell was born in Germany and moved around frequently as a child. After graduating from high school in Texas, she completed undergraduate studies in English at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

and a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. She lives in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

with her husband and two children.

Published works

* '' Dovey Coe'' (2000) **

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

translation: ''我不是兇手'' (''Wo bu shi xiong shou; I'm not the murderer)'' –

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

: The Eastern Publishing Co., Ltd, 2002. **

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

translation: ''Accusée!'' – Bayard Jeunesse, 2005. **

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

translation: ''Dunkler Sommer über Indian Creek'' –

Weinheim Weinheim (; ) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei-Burgen-Sta ...

Beltz & Gelberg Hans-Joachim Gelberg (27 August 1930 – 17 May 2020) was a German writer and publisher of children's books, who received several awards. Biography Gelberg was born in Dortmund and later lived in Weinheim, Baden Württemberg. Gelberg founded ...

, 2002. * '' Where I'd Like to Be'' (2003) = SALANI GL'ISTRICI: Solo un ritaglio di casa Illustrazioni di Francesca Bazzurro (2004 Italy) * ''

Chicken Boy Chicken Boy is a statue located on North Figueroa Street in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. The 22-foot tall fiberglass statue was recognized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with the ''Governor's Historic Preservation Award'' in 201 ...

'' (2005) * ''

Shooting the Moon Hearts is an "evasion-type" trick-taking playing card game for four players, although most variations can accommodate between three and six players. It was first recorded in the United States in the 1880s and has many variants, some of which are ...

'' (2008) * '' Falling In'' (2010) * ''

Ten Miles Past Normal Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910, 2010, 2110 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA co ...

'' (2011) * '' The Second Life of Abigail Walker'' (2012) * ''

Anybody Shining An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun which does not have a specific, familiar referent. Indefinite pronouns are in contrast to definite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns can represent either count nouns or noncount nouns. They often have related form ...

'' (2014) * ''

Trouble the Water ''Trouble the Water'' is a 2008 documentary film produced and directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. The film centers on a young couple surviving Hurricane Katrina, and facing their own troubled past during the storm's aftermath. It features mus ...

'' (2016) * '' Birds in the Air'' (2016) ;The Secret Language of Girls * '' The Secret Language of Girls'' (2004) **

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

translation: ''Sekretny język dziewczyn'' * '' The Kind of Friends We Used To Be'' (2009) * '' The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away'' (2013) ;From the Highly Scientific Notebooks of Phineas L. Macguire * '' Phineas L. MacGuire ... Erupts!: The First Experiment'' (2006) * '' Phineas L. MacGuire ... Gets Slimed!'' (2007) * '' Phineas L. MacGuire ... Blasts Off!'' (2008) * '' Phineas L. MacGuire ... Gets Cooking!'' (2012) ; Sam the Man * '' Sam the Man and the Chicken Plan'' (2016) * '' Sam the Man and the Rutabaga Plan'' (2017)

Awards

*2001:

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

, Best Children's, ''Dovey Coe'' *2003:

, 6th–8th Grade, ''Dovey Coe'' *2008:

Honor, ''Shooting the Moon'' *2009:

, Books for Young People - Ages 10–12, ''Shooting the Moon''

References

External links

Official author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowell, Frances Oroark 1964 births Living people American women writers Edgar Award winners University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Wake Forest University alumni Writers from North Carolina 21st-century American women