Rachel Anderson (born 1943) is an English journalist and author best known for her children's books. Her work often features the positive portrayal of characters with learning disabilities, and themes of social injustice and alienation. She was married for 45 years to the writer and translator

David Bradby David Bradby (27 February 1942 – 17 January 2011) was a British drama and theatre academic with particular research interests in French theatre, Modernist / Postmodernist theatre, the role of the director and the Theatre of the Absurd. He wro ...

.Biography at Rachel Anderson official website.
Her mother was the writer

Verily Anderson Verily Anderson (12 January 1915 – 16 July 2010) was a British author, best known for writing the screenplay of the 1960 film '' No Kidding'',Eloise Miller"Verily Anderson obituary" ''The Guardian'' (London), 29 July 2010. based on her 1958 boo ...

. For the novel ''Paper Faces'', published by

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 1991, Anderson won the

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for Children's literature, children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conf ...

, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers.

Biography

Born in 1943 in

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

, Surrey, Rachel Anderson is the second of the five children born to

and Captain Donald Anderson, her siblings including the author and health activist

Janie Hampton Janie Hampton (born as Anderson, 14 March 1952) is a British author, best known for her biography of Joyce Grenfell and social history books ''The Austerity Olympics'', ''How the Girl Guides Won the War'', and an international development and w ...

. Leaving school at the age of 16, Rachel Anderson initially became a journalist, working for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, newspapers and women's magazines. For 10 years, she was children's book reviews editor for ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American lifestyle media brand that covers a wide range of topics from home decor and renovation, health, beauty and food, to entertainment, pets and gifts. The Good Housekeeping Institute which opened its "Experiment ...

''."Rachel Anderson"

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, Literature. Her first book – ''Pineapple'', an adult novel – was published in 1965, in the same week that she and David Bradby were married. Her other books for adults are ''The Purple Heart Throbs: The Sub-Literature of Love'' (1974), ''Dream Lovers'' (1978), and ''For the Love of Sang'' (1990). She now writes mainly for a young readership. Her 2011 novel for teenagers, ''Asylum'', was published in the same week as her mother's final book that was being completed at the time of her death the previous year. Rachel Anderson has four children and "a range of grandchildren" and lives mainly in

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Works

Children's and young adult books

*''Moffatt's Road'' (1978) *''Tim Walks'' (1985) *''Jessy Runs Away'' (1988) *''French Lessons'' (1988) *''Tough as Old Boots'' (1988) *''The Bus People'' (1989) *''Julie and the Queen of Tonga'' (1990) *''Best Friends'' (1991) *''Treasures for Cousin Crystal'' (1992) *''The Working Class'' (1993) *''Jessy and the Long-short Dress'' (1993) *''Black Water'' (1994) *''The Doll's House'' (1995) *''Princess Jazz and the Angels'' (1995) *''Letters from Heaven'' (1996) *''Blackthorn, Whitethorn (1997) *''Carly's Luck'' (1998) *''Ollie and the Trainers'' (1999) *''The Scavenger's Tale'' (2000) *''The War Orphan'' (1984, 2000) *''The Flight of the Emu'' (2001) *''Joe's Story'' (2001) *''Paper Faces'' (2002) *''The Rattletrap Trip'' (2003) *''Hello Peanut!'' (2003) *''Hugo and the Long Red Arm'' (2004) *''Pizza on Saturday'' (2004) *''The Poacher's Son'' (2006) *''Warlands'' (2006) *''This Strange New Life'' (2006) *''Red Moon'' (2006) *''Big Ben'' (2007) *''Asylum'' (2011) The Little Angel Trilogy: *''Little Angel Comes to Stay'' (1984) *''Little Angel, Bonjour'' (1988) *''Happy Christmas Little Angel'' (1991) Moving Times' Trilogy: *''Bloom of Youth'' (1999) *''Grandmother's Footsteps'' (1999) *''Stronger than Mountains'' (2000)

Adult books

*''Pineapple'' (Jonathan Cape, 1965) *''Dream Lovers'' (1978) *''For the Love of Sang'' (1990)

Literary criticism

*''The Purple Heart Throbs: The Sub-literature of Love'' (1974)

Translations

*''The Cat's Tale'' (1985) *''Renard the Fox'' (1986) with D. Bradby *''Wild Goose Chase'' (1986) *''Little Lost Fox'' (1992)

Awards

* 1949: ''Tiny Tots'' Order of Merit (TTOM) * 1992:

for ''Paper Faces'' (one of two winners) * 1990:

Medical Journalists' Award Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Rachel 1943 births Date of birth missing (living people) 20th-century English journalists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English journalists 21st-century English women writers English women children's writers English women journalists English women non-fiction writers English children's writers English women novelists Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners Writers from Surrey Living people