Karen S. Hesse (born August 29, 1952) is 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 ...

and literature for young adults, often with

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

settings. She received the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

for ''Out of the Dust'' (1997).

Early years and education

Karen Hesse was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. She studied at nearby Towson State College and married Randy Hesse in 1971 before completing her studies. She attended college at Towson State College and the University of Maryland. She earned a B.A. in English with double minors in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, during which she began publishing poetry.

Career

After graduating, she moved with her husband to

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, had two children, Rachel and Kate, took jobs in publishing, and started writing children's books. Her first novel was a rejected story about meeting

Bigfoot Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

, but her next proposal was published by Henry Holt in 1991 as ''Wish on a Unicorn''. ''

Out of the Dust ''Out of the Dust'' is a children's verse novel written by Karen Hesse, first published on October 1, 1997. Summary Billie Jo begins with how her father wanted to have a son instead of a daughter. He still loves her but treats her like the ...

'' is a story of a girl living through the dust bowl of the Depression. The mother of the central character dies giving birth to her stillborn brother Franklin. After the mother dies, Billie Jo and her father try to continue with their lives. Hesse tackled a more disturbing subject in the 2001 verse novel ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

''. The

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

, re-invigorated in the 1920s (in this book, 1924 and '25) tries to take over a small Vermont town. The book is written from the perspectives of several people - Merlin Van Tornhout and Johnny Reeves, both members of the Klan; Sara Chickering, a farmer; Esther Hirsh, a six-year-old Jewish girl; Leonora Sutter, an African American girl; Iris Weaver, a restaurateur; Harvey and Viola Pettibone, shop owners; Reynard Alexander, a newspaper editor; Fitzgerald Flitt, the doctor; and Percelle Johnson, the town constable. In ''Witness'' Hesse continued the distinctive poetic/prose style she pioneered in ''Out of the Dust''. Hesse also wrote ''

The Music of Dolphins ''The Music of Dolphins'', by Karen Hesse, is a children's book that follows the story of Mila, a feral child raised by a pod of dolphins around the Florida Keys and Caribbean. "Mila" is an abbreviated form of the Spanish word ''milagro'', mean ...

'', about a girl who was raised by

dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

. ''Stowaway'', first published in 2000 by Simon & Schuster USA, is based on the true story of an 11-year-old boy who stowed away on Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's ship ''Endeavour'' in 1768. The UK version of this book is published under the title ''Young Nick's Head''. It is in the format of a diary written by Nicholas Young, the cabin boy on the ''Endeavour''. ''Brooklyn Bridge'' is based on the true story of the family who created the teddy bear in Brooklyn in 1903. At age 68 years, she was living with her husband, still in

Awards

Hesse was a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals workin ...

in 2002. For ''

'' (Scholastic, 1997), she won the

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. History 19th century ...

, recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children", and the annual

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is an annual American children's book award that recognizes historical fiction. It was established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell, author of ''Island of the Blue Dolphins'' and 25 other children's books, in ho ...

. ''

Letters from Rifka ''Letters From Rifka'' is a children's historical novel by Karen Hesse, published by Holt in 1992. The novel is based on the life of Hesse's great-aunt Lucille Avrutin. With an intended young adult audience, the book aims to inform and validate ...

'' (MacMillan, 1992) won an

International Reading Association Award International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and a

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...

. In 2012 Hesse received 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 ...

from 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 ...

for ''Letters from Rifka'', recognizing the best children's book published twenty years earlier that did not win a major award.

Works

* 1991, ''Wish on a Unicorn'' (Henry Holt, , reprin
Google Books edition
Macmillan, 2009, ) * 1992, ''

'' (MacMillan, 1992) (reprint Macmillan, 2009, ) * 1993, ''Lester's Dog'', illus.

Nancy Carpenter Nancy Sippel Carpenter is an American illustrator of children's picture books. Biography Carpenter's mother was an art teacher. Carpenter worked as a graphic reporter for Associated Press and illustrator for the ''The New York Times, New York T ...

(Crown, ) * 1993, ''Poppy's Chair'', illus. Kay Life (Macmillan, ) * 1994, '' Phoenix Rising'' (Macmillan, ) * 1994, ''Sable'', illus. Marcia Sewall (Henry Holt, )
Google Books edition
San Val, ) * 1995, ''A Time of Angels'' (Hyperion, ) * 1995, ''Lavender'', illus. Andrew Glass
Google Books edition
Macmillan, ) * 1996, ''

''
Google Books edition
Scholastic, ) * 1997, ''

''
Google Books edition
Scholastic, ) * 1998, ''Just Juice'', illus. Robert Andrew Parker
Google Books edition
Scholastic, ) * 1999, ''Come on, Rain'', illus. Jon J. Muth (Scholastic, ) * 1999, ''A Light in the Storm: the Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin'' (Scholastic, ) * 2000, ''Stowaway''
Google Books edition
Simon & Schuster, ) * 2001, ''

''
Google Books edition
Scholastic, ) * 2003, ''Aleutian Sparrow''
Google Books edition
Simon & Schuster, ) * 2003, ''The Stone Lamp: Eight Stories of Hanukkah through History'', illus. J. Brian Pinkney (Hyperion, ) * 2004, ''The Cats in Krasinski Square'', illus. Wendy Watson
Google Books edition
Scholastic, ) * 2005 ''The Young Hans Christian Andersen'' (Scholastic, ) * 2008, ''Spuds'', illus. Wendy Watson (Scholastic, ) * 2008, ''Brooklyn Bridge''
Google Books edition
Macmillan, ) * 2011, "Nell" — a short story included in the young-adult anthology ''What You Wish For'' (Putnam, ) (also available o
Tor.com
* 2012, ''Safekeeping'' (Feiwel & Friends, ) *2016, ''My Thumb'' (Feiwel & Friends, ) *2018, "Night Job" (Candlewick Press), ) *2022, "Granny and Bean" (Candlewick Press))

References

External links