Ransom, Candice F. 1952- (Kate Kenyon, Carrie Randall)

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Ransom, Candice F. 1952- (Kate Kenyon, Carrie Randall)

Personal

Born July 10, 1952, in Washington, DC; daughter of Thomas Garland and Irene Dellinger Farris; married Frank Wesley Ransom (a satellite engineer), February 14, 1979. Education: Vermont College, M.F.A.; Hollins University, M.A. Hobbies and other interests: Scrapbooking, dancing.

Addresses

E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer. Spalding University, faculty member in M.F.A. in writing program. Speaker at schools and conferences.

Awards, Honors

International Reading Association/Children's Choice designation, 1987, for Fourteen and Holding; Best Science Book for Children designation, 1994, for Listening to Crickets; Best Illustrated Books of the Year inclusion, New York Times, and 100 Best Children's Books inclusion, New York Public Library, both 1995, both for When the Whippoorwill Calls, illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Social Studies, 1997, for One Christmas Dawn; Notable Trade Book in Social Studies, 1998, for Fire in the Sky; Hodge-Podge Award for Best Children's Book, 2001, for The Promise Quilt; Independent Publishers Silver Medal Award, 2007, for Finding Day's Bottom.

Writings

CHILDREN'S FICTION

The Silvery Past, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1982.

Amanda, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1984.

Susannah, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1984.

Breaking the Rules, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1985.

Emily, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1985.

Kathleen, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1985.

Blackbird Keep, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 1986.

Cat's Cradle, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 1986.

Nicole, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1986.

Sabrina, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1986.

Thirteen, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1986.

(Under pseudonym Kate Kenyon) The Day the Eighth Grade Ran the School, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1987.

Fourteen and Holding, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1987.

Fifteen at Last, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1987.

Kaleidoscope, Crosswinds, 1987.

Going on Twelve, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1988.

My Sister, the Meanie, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1988.

Millicent the Magnificent, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1989.

My Sister, the Traitor, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1989.

(Under pseudonym Carrie Randall) The Secret, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1989.

Today Fifth Grade, Tomorrow the World, Willowisp Press (St. Petersburg, FL), 1989.

Almost Ten and a Half, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1990.

My Sister, the Creep, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1990.

There's One in Every Family, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1990.

Funniest Sixth Grade Video Ever, Willowisp Press (St. Petersburg, FL), 1991.

Ladies and Jellybeans, Bradbury Press (New York, NY), 1991.

The Love Charm, Willowisp Press (St. Petersburg, FL), 1991.

Sixth Grade High, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1991.

Hocus-Pocus after School, Willowisp Press (St. Petersburg, FL), 1992.

Shooting Star Summer, illustrated by Karen Milone, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1992.

The Big Green Pocketbook, illustrated by Felicia Bond, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

Third Grade Stars, Troll (New York, NY), 1993.

We're Growing Together, illustrated by Virginia Wright-Frierson, Bradbury Press (New York, NY), 1993.

Who Needs Third Grade?, Troll (New York, NY), 1993.

Between Two Worlds, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Jimmy Crack Corn, illustrated by Shelly O. Haas, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

The Spitball Class, Archway/Minstrel (New York, NY), 1994.

Third Grade Detectives, Troll (New York, NY), 1994.

Why Are Boys So Weird?, Troll (New York, NY), 1994.

When the Whippoorwill Calls, illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root, Tambourine Books (New York, NY), 1995.

More than a Name, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1995.

Teacher's Pest, Troll (New York, NY), 1996.

One Christmas Dawn, illustrated by Peter Fiore, Bridgewater, 1996.

Fire in the Sky, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

Children of the Civil War, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.

The Christmas Dolls, illustrated by Moira Fain, Walker (New York, NY), 1998.

The Promise Quilt, illustrated by Ellen Beier, Walker (New York, NY), 1999.

Rescue on the Outer Banks, illustrated by Karen Ritz, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Danger at Sand Cove, illustrated by Den Schofield, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Liberty Street, illustrated by Eric Velasquez, Walker (New York, NY), 2003.

Big Rigs, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

Willie McLean and the Civil War Surrender, illustrated by Jeni Reeves, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

I Like Shoes, illustrated by David LaFleur, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Key to the Griffon's Lair ("Knights of the Silver Dragon" series), illustrated by Emily Fiegenshuh, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2005.

Finding Day's Bottom, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

Tractor Day, illustrated by Laura J. Bryant, Walker (New York, NY), 2007.

Seeing Sky-Blue Pink, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.

"TIME SPIES" SERIES; CHILDREN'S FICTION

Secret in the Tower, illustrated by Greg Call, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2006.

Bones in the Badlands, illustrated by Greg Call, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2006.

Giants in the Garden, illustrated by Greg Call, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2006.

Magicians in the Trunk, illustrated by Greg Call, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2006.

Signals in the Sky, illustrated by Greg Call, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2007.

Riders in the Night, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2007.

Horses in the Wind, Mirrorstone Books (Renton, WA), 2007.

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION

Listening to Crickets: A Story about Rachel Carson (picture book), illustrated by Shelly O. Haas, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

So Young to Die: The Story of Hannah Senesh, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

Maria von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2001.

Mother Teresa, illustrated by Elaine Verstraete, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2001.

George Washington, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Lewis and Clark, illustrated by Tim Parlin, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

Martha Washington, illustrated by Karen Ritz, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

Clara Barton, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

Daniel Boone, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

John Hancock, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

Robert E. Lee, Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

Sam Collier and the Founding of Jamestown, illustrated by Matthew Archambault, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

OTHER

Contributor of articles and stories to magazines, including Seventeen, Rural Living, Writer's Digest, Single Parent, Highlights for Children, and Lutheran Women. Also contributor to the "Boxcar Children" series.

Sidelights

Candice F. Ransom is a prolific writer whose books for children run the gamut of genres, from picture books to novels to history and biography. Childhood memories of growing up in Virginia, where her family has resided for generations, provide Ransom with the inspiration for her stories for children and young adults. Reaching back into her own past, Ransom remembers what it feels like to be thirteen, to make new friends, or even to hate your own sister. Although her first novels were teen paperbacks, she expanded her focus over the years, bringing the same sense of realism to her books for elementary-grade readers and the picture-book set. Commenting on her work as a writer, Ransom once told SATA: "I often reflect what a strange world I inhabit, trapped between the floors of childhood and adulthood—not really there, but not really here either."

Ransom's childhood prepared her well for a career as a writer. "I grew up in rural [Virginia], where there wasn't much to do except read, stay out of my sister's path, and listen to my mother's tales about her childhood in the Shenandoah Valley," Ransom once noted on her home page. Even while doing her math homework in the kitchen, Ransom would listen to her mother's stories and tall tales, some which involved her grandfather's trade as undertaker. One of her favorites was about how her mom once locked her cousin in an empty coffin. "Anyone's life, even my mother's, was more exciting than mine. In second grade, I began writing stories, with myself as heroine. At last, I found a way to have adventures."

Ransom's first novel was "penciled on the long bus ride home from school at the age of seven," the author once told SATA, and "began with the immortal lines, ‘It was dark. Everything was silent. Then in rustling leaves….’ The books I wrote in elementary school were feeble imitations of ‘Nancy Drew’ novels or Lassie Come Home, in which I was always the main character. As a lonely child growing up in rural Fairfax County, I wrote to while away long evenings, and who else would I rather have read about having wonderful adventures than myself?"

In high school, Ransom continued her love affair with writing and reading, although she realized that her literary interests were very different from those of her classmates. As she explained to SATA, "While other kids were passing around The Green Berets, with page 388 marked, I was still reading The Borrowers. My English teacher set me straight. ‘You're going to be a children's writer,’ she said. Relieved that I was not living my life in reverse like Merlin in The Once and Future King, I set out to fulfill her prophecy." Ransom did this by writing her first children's novel during her sixteenth summer and sending it off to Harper and Row. At the same time, she began writing and submitting poetry, having her first poem published later that year.

After graduating from high school, Ransom began work as a secretary, and wrote in her free time. Her first novel, a teen mystery titled The Silvery Past, was published in 1982 as part of the "Windswept" series of paperback originals. Deciding that the popularity of the teen paperback market gave her a better chance of being published, Ransom studied her competition, continued writing, and successfully got her second book published.

A call from her publisher provided Ransom the chance to write a four-hundred-page historical novel for teens. At first daunted by the task, she accepted and ended up writing the first two novels of the highly successful "Sunfire" series. Since these early books, Ransom has delved into comical works for another paperback series, has written such humorous middle-grade novels as Ladies and Jellybeans, There's One in Every Family, Thirteen, and My Sister, the Meanie, and gained an even younger audience with Shooting Star Summer and More than a Name.

Ransom's vividly recalled childhood memories and interests inform both Ladies and Jellybeans and There's One in Every Family. In the first novel, set in 1959, Wendy is starting the third grade, where she will learn cursive writing and deal with air-raid drills at school. In addition to these challenges, her best friend has moved away and her family is currently undergoing financial difficulties. Wendy's fears are soon calmed by her loving family and a new friend, and she confidently faces each new challenge. "Realistically drawn characters and down-to-earth dialogue let Ransom deliver her message neatly," wrote a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, the critic adding that children "will be heartened" by Wendy's ability to deal with difficulty.

Ransom also used childhood memories to help create the character of Kobie Roberts, star of Thirteen, Fourteen and Holding, and Fifteen at Last. When readers first meet her, thirteen-year-old Kobie is positive that this will be the worst year of her life. She is short, has no figure, and cannot get into the "in" group at her junior high. Things turn around, though, when Kobie makes new friends through her involvement in a school play and earns her own kind of recognition for her art work. New problems arise, however, in Fourteen and Holding when Kobie finds herself facing high school without her best friend, Gretchen. Getting into trouble with a home-economics teacher and a school bully, Kobie eventually resolves these issue. "Ransom offers an honest and humorous portrayal of the trauma of growing up," maintained Betty Ann Porter in her School Library Journal review of Thirteen. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote of Fourteen and Holding that "Ransom has a buoyant style; she understands just how complicated school and family life can be."

The complications that arise between siblings is the focus of the novels My Sister, the Meanie, My Sister, the Traitor, and My Sister, the Creep. In the first novel, wishing she was more like her older, more-popular sister, Sharon, Jackie follows her sister around and imitates Sharon in an effort to make this wish come true. Sharon gets understandably annoyed, and she declares war on Jackie until she herself has a crisis and her little sister comes to her rescue. In My Sister, the Traitor thirteen-year-old Jackie looks forward to being a teen. When nothing new happens, she finds herself facing a long, boring summer, which gets even worse when Sharon starts dating a boy Jackie likes. In My Sister, theCreep Sharon prepares to leave for college, and while Jackie is at first excited to see her sister go, she soon misses her. At the same time, Jackie is trying to fit in as a high-school freshman. Just as she makes friends and has her first date, Sharon returns to make things difficult again. Ransom "effectively portrays the way each sister's actions grate on the other, even when no provocation is intended," wrote a Booklist contributor in a review of My Sister, the Meanie. Andrea Davidson pointed out in Voice of Youth Advocates that "Jackie is an engaging character … and she is instrumental in getting Sharon together with the boy she likes, showing how much she truly loves Sharon." Rita M. Fontinha stated in her Kliatt review of My Sister, the Creep that, "full of laughable situations, the book provides fun and a bit of truth."

Families adjusting to changes in structure are the topic of both We're Growing Together and More than a Name. The first finds a young girl and her sister adapting to a new stepfather as well as a new home in the country far away from their friends and everything familiar. More Than a Name similarly deals with eight-year-old Cammie, who also has a new stepfather and a new town to cope with, as well as her strong desire to be adopted by her new father. Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper stated in her review of We're Growing Together: "Stepchildren will easily understand all the muddle of feelings that come with the entry of a new parent into the household, and this is the story's main attraction." In a review of More than a Name, a Publishers Weekly contributor concluded that Ransom "addresses Cammie's recognizable concerns … with true-to-life characterizations and a dose of gentle humor." Booklist critic Kay Weisman likewise felt that "Ransom's strength lies in her attention to Cammie's feelings in this all-too-common situation," and that young readers "will appreciate the story's upbeat tone and a chance to read about a family that works."

As her career has progressed, Ransom has increasingly moved from contemporary stories to historical fiction, and has also written engaging biographies of a wide range of famous men and women from America's past. She deals with the 1932 Veteran's Bonus March in Washington, DC in the fictional story Jimmy Crack Corn. Young Jimmy's father lost his job and soon may lose the farm as well; the cow has been sold for taxes and the family will soon eat the last remaining chicken. However, Jimmy's father is a veteran of World War I, and he decides to join other veterans on a march on Washington. Jimmy accompanies his dad and is witness to both the initial hopes that the march inspires, and also the despair that follows when the U.S. Army disperses the marchers. According to Booklist contributor Ellen Mandel, Jimmy Crack Corn tells a moving story of a "caring youngster who longs to be a musician amid the arduous struggle for survival in the 1930s."

Ransom sticks with the 1930s in her Fire in the Sky, which recalls the tragic destruction of the Hindenburg dirigible in New Jersey. The main character, Stenny, is nine, a bit overweight, and continually teased at school. He wishes he could live the adventures of his favorite radio hero, Jack Armstrong. But his biggest preoccupation is reading everything he can about Germany's dirigible. When he learns that it is going to be landing near his hometown, he bikes to the Naval Air Station and manages to get onto the field, only to see the Hindenburg burst into flames and its passengers jump to the ground to avoid the fire. At first his impulse is to run away, but he battles this fear and helps the rescuers by guiding survivors to a hangar for safety. "Though a loser at marbles and a liar, Stenny finds his world turning around when he discovers that he's no coward," commented Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan, who also found the book to be "involving historical fiction." Peggy Morgan, writing in School Library Journal, noted that Ransom "has created a believable, sympathetic character and has skillfully placed him in the pre-World War II era." Morgan called the book "excellent historical fiction for younger readers."

American Civil War history is at the heart of Children of the Civil War, The Promise Quilt, and Willie McLean and the Civil War Surrender. Employing plentiful illustrations, Children of the Civil War focuses on life before, during, and after the War between the States. Children as soldiers, slaves, servants, prisoners, and orphans are featured in this book, which combines text and photographs to "bring the period to life," according to Janice Schomberg in School Library Journal. A more intimate portrait of the same epoch is offered in The Promise Quilt. Here readers meet Addie, whose father has promised to send her to school when she gets older. Unfortunately, her father went off to war as a guide for General Robert E. Lee and never returned home. Now Addie, her mother, and her brother have to learn how to survive in the defeated South, and all that she has to remind her of her father is his red flannel shirt. When it is time for her to go to school, she willingly sacrifices this prized shirt so that her mother can complete a quilt to raffle off in order to buy necessary school supplies. "This realistic tale … is very touching," noted Anne Knickerbocker in a School Library Journal review. "Themes of resiliency, sacrifice, and hard work rewarded are gracefully woven into the narrative." A beginning reader, Willie McLean and the Civil War Surrender describes Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, as witnessed by an eleven-year-old West Virginia lad. Ransom's story plays out in a "clear, unencumbered text," according to School Library Journal contributor Rita Soltan.

Using the language and setting of the southern backwoods, in Finding Day's Bottom, Ransom returns readers to the Blue Ridge Mountains, as eleven-year-old Jane-Ery attempts to cope with the death of her father in a tragic sawmill accident. The girl, her mother, and Grandpap must now attempt to survive without an income; at the same Jane-Ery learns to accept the finality of death and the will to make the most of life. In SchoolLibrary Journal, Nancy Call praised Ransom's story as "full of insight and truth," while a Publishers Weekly reviewer described the first-person narrative as possessing "just the right delicate and childlike tones" in expressing a child's heartfelt grief. A young slave's flight to freedom is central to Liberty Street, which evokes its historical setting through young Kezia's "intense and powerful" first-person narrative, according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. Praising the depiction of the young slave's dangerous journey north to Canada on the underground railroad in "fine, realistic" illustrations by Eric Velasquez, Liberty Street "capably captures the back-breaking drudgery … and injustices" of slavery, according to another Publishers Weekly critic. In School Library Journal, Anna DeWind Walls deemed Ransom's story "wrenching and inspirational."

In Danger at Sand Cave and Rescue on the Outer Banks Ransom fashions two true adventure stories from little-known events in American history. Danger at Sand Cave tells of the 1925 attempt to save Floyd Collins, an experienced spelunker, or cave explorer, after he became trapped in a Kentucky cavern. For weeks rescue teams tried to reach Floyd with no success. Ransom's account inserts into the historical action a fictional ten-year-old boy, Arly, who thinks his small size will allow him to succeed in saving Collins where others have failed. By the time the rescuers finally reached Collins, however, he was dead. "Ransom effectively conveys Arly's frustration but refrains from turning his foolhardy act into a dramatic rescue and instead sticks with the historical conclusion," commented a reviewer for Horn Book. This same critic felt that such realism "shows a respect for those who prefer endings that reflect what really happened rather than what one might wish happened." Nancy A. Gifford, reviewing Danger at Sand Cave in School Library Journal, felt that this "adventure will appeal to beginning and reluctant readers."

Ransom's biographies for young readers include profiles of individuals ranging from U.S. presidents to notable humanitarians. In Maria von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music she presents a portrait of the woman whose life inspired both the Broadway musical and movie The Sound of Music. "Clearly written … the book gives a sense of Maria's forceful personality as well as the events in her life," according to Booklist contributor Carolyn Phelan. In Mother Teresa Ransom focuses on the woman who devoted her life to working with the poor in India, while George Washington, Robert E. Lee, and Lewis and Clark profile men whose works greatly impacted early U.S. history. "Although there are many biographies of Mother Teresa," wrote Jean Gaffney in School Library Journal, Ransom's "stands out as an inviting and inspiring beginning reader."

In her "Time Spies" series, Ransom blends history with fantasy, suspense, and a thrilling adventure. "When I was growing up," she noted on her home page, "I loved ‘everyday’ fantasy stories where ordinary kids would find a magic ring and be whisked off to another world. I looked for magic rings and secret panels, hoping to have adventures…. I wrote the ‘Time Spies’ series as a way to travel back in time and have fun!" In series opener Secret in the Tower, a family has relocated to rural Virginia to run the Gray Horse Inn. After moving, Mattie, Alex, and Sophie Chapman find their worries of boredom vanish when they find an antique spyglass that transports them back to the Revolutionary War. In Bones in the Badlands the children wind up in Wyoming in 1898, where they help a paleontologist save a cache of dinosaur bones from a determined thief. Other novels in the series include Giant in the Garden; Magician in the Trunk, which results in a meeting with noted magician Henry Houdini; Signals in the Sky; and Rider in the night, a time-travel adventure that finds the trio deposited in the middle of Washington Irving's well-known tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." According to Elaine E. Knight, in a review of Bones in the Badlands for School Library Journal, the "mild suspense, accurate historical detail, and occasional touches of humor" will make the books particularly popular with reluctant readers."

Focusing on an even younger audience, Ransom tells a story drawn from her own childhood in her picture book The Big Green Pocketbook. The story focuses on a mother and daughter who take the long bus ride downtown to do errands. At the beginning of the day, the girl's pocketbook is empty, but as the day progresses she fills it up with gifts and mementos from the trip, such as a key chain, a bag of gumdrops, a box of new crayons, and used bus tickets. Falling asleep on the way home, the girl leaves her pocketbook on the bus, but the thoughtful driver drops it off on his way back to the station. The Big Green Pocketbook is an "engaging picture book," observed Deborah Abbott in Booklist, adding that the pictures "enhance the simple and smooth text, and the essence and enthusiasm of childhood glow from each carefully designed page." A critic for Publishers Weekly had similar praise for Ransom's picture book, noting that the "winsome" story about "a likable girl and her mother as they run errands" features a "timeless theme."

Ransom opens a window onto rural life in Tractor Day, which features illustrations by Laura J. Bryant. In a simple, rhyming text, she follows the events of a busy spring day, as a father and daughter set out to till the field of their family farm in preparation for planting. Noting the reassuring, nostalgic themes, School Library Journal contributor Carolyn Janssen recommended Tractor Day as "a great choice for reading aloud or sharing one-on-one," while Randall Enos quipped in his Booklist review that "life on the farm never looked so good."

Ransom's picture book When the Whippoorwill Calls has been praised as an empathetic and even-handed treatment of change. In this work, set in the 1930s,

young Polly and her family are forced to leave their home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to accommodate the government's creation of Shenandoah National Park. "Instead of simply lamenting a vanished way of life," noted Julie Yates Walton in Booklist, "Ransom writes with a full spectrum of emotion, wringing from the story a well-considered metaphor for the mixed blessings of progress." Championed as a "stunning effort" by School Library Journal contributor Barbara Chatton, When the Whippoorwill Calls was praised by Horn Book reviewer Ann A. Flowers as a "thoughtful and sensitive view of change, good and bad."

Christmas is the inspiration for a pair of picture books: One Christmas Dawn and The Christmas Dolls. In the former title, it is the winter of 1917, the coldest ever recorded in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, and Ransom's young narrator awaits her father's return from the sawmill, where he has gone to find work. On Christmas morning the girl awakes to see the yard blooming with flowers; falling back asleep, she awakes again to find that the snow is back and so is her father. Noting the book's blend of folklore and tall tale, Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper described Ransom's text as "full of everyday poetry" and added that readers "should enjoy the warm feelings that flow over a cold Christmas night." Jane Marino, reviewing the same title in School Library Journal, noted that the "apt turns of phrase and quietly understated story make [One Christmas Dawn] … a lovely family history for the holidays."

Ransom's ability to accurately describe the feelings, thoughts, and actions of children both in contemporary and historical situations is closely linked to her vivid memories of her own experiences while growing up. And it is a feeling remembered from these childhood days that brings Ransom the most satisfaction as a writer. "Best of all," she concluded for SATA, "I am able to recapture that shivery feeling of anticipation I once had whenever I turned the first page of a new library book. Only now the pages are blank, waiting for me to fill them." Writing on her home page, Ransom noted, "Through my work, I have traveled back in time, relived my own past (and fixed the awful parts!), and explored every corner of my home state. I wouldn't trade my life with anyone else's!"

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1989, review of My Sister, the Meanie, p. 941; July, 1993, Deborah Abbott, review of The Big Green Pocketbook, pp. 1976-1977; October 1, 1993, Ilene Cooper, review of We're Growing Together, p. 354; July, 1994, Ellen Mandel, review of Jimmy Crack Corn, pp. 1948-1949; July, 1995, Kay Weisman, review of More than a Name, p. 1880; September 15, 1995, Julie Yates Walton, review of When the Whippoorwill Calls, p. 176; October 15, 1996, Ilene Cooper, review of One Christmas Dawn, p. 437; May 1, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of Fire in the Sky, p. 1498; September 1, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of The Christmas Dolls, p. 134; November 1, 1999, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of The Promise Quilt, p. 540; March 1, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Maria von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music, pp. 1147-1148; November 1, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Liberty Street, p. 506; October 15, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Finding Day's Bottom, p. 49; January 1, 2007, Randall Enos, review of Tractor Day, p. 116.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March, 2002, review of Rescue on the Outer Banks, p. 250; March, 2004, Karen Coats, review of Liberty Street, p. 292.

Horn Book, March-April, 1996, Ann A. Flowers, review of When the Whippoorwill Calls, pp. 190-191; July-August, 2000, review of Danger at Sand Cave, p. 464.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2002, review of Rescue on the Outer Banks, p. 187; November 15, 2003, review of Liberty Street, p. 1362; September 1, 2006, review of Finding Day's Bottom, p. 911.

Kliatt, September, 1990, Rita M. Fontinha, review of My Sister, the Creep, p. 14.

New Moon, January-February, 2006, Elyse Bassman, interview with Ransom, p. 18.

Publishers Weekly, July 10, 1987, review of Fourteen and Holding, p. 71; January 4, 1991, review of There's One in Every Family, p. 72; September 27, 1991, review of Ladies and Jellybeans, p. 58; May 31, 1993, review of The Big Green Pocketbook, p. 53; July 3, 1995, review of More than a Name, p. 61; September 30, 1996, review of One Christmas Dawn, p. 90; October 30, 2006, review of Finding Day's Bottom, p. 62; December 22, 2003, review of Liberty Street, p. 60.

School Library Journal, October, 1987, Betty Ann Porter, review of Thirteen, p. 142; February, 1993, Cyrisse Jaffee, review of Shooting Star Summer, pp. 77-78; November, 1995, Barbara Chatton, review of When the Whippoorwill Calls, pp. 80-81; October, 1996, Jane Marino, review of One Christmas Dawn, p. 40; August, 1997, Peggy Morgan, review of Fire in the Sky, p. 139; October, 1998, Mary N. Hopf, review of The Christmas Dolls, p. 44; January, 1999, Janice Schomberg, review of Children of the Civil War, p. 120; November, 1999, Anne Knickerbocker, review of The Promise Quilt, p. 128; August, 2000, Nancy A. Gifford, review of Danger at Sand Cave, p. 164; July, 2001, Jean Gaffney, review of Mother Teresa, p. 97; May, 2002, Rita Soltan, review of Maria von Trapp, p. 176; July, 2003, Kristina Aaronson, review of Martha Washington, p. 117; December, 2003, Anna DeWind Walls, review of Liberty Street, p. 124; March, 2005, Rita Soltan, review of Willie McLean and the Civil War Surrender, p. 200; September, 2006, Nancy Call, review of Finding Day's Bottom, p. 216; February, 2007, Elaine E. Knight, review of Bones in the Badlands, p. 94; March, 2007, Carolyn Janssen, review of Tractor Day, p. 184.