AKA Jennifer Robin Carolyn McKinley

Born: 16-Nov-1952
Birthplace: Warren, OH

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Author

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: The Hero and the Crown

Author Robin McKinley is known both for her retelling of classic fairytales and for original stories with a fairytale feel. Although she also writes short fiction she is best loved for her novels, including Beauty, The Blue Sword, The Hero & The Crown, Deerskin, and Rose Daughter. An author for teens as well as adults, McKinley won the 1985 Newbery Medal for her young adult novel The Hero and the Crown; another young adult novel, Blue Sword, was named a Newbery Honor Book in 1983. Beauty was a New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age pick for 1980, 1981, and 1982. McKinley's work has also extended into children's picture books with My Father is in the Navy, Rowan, Black Beauty, and Tales from the Jungle Book.

The daughter of a Navy serviceman, McKinley traveled a great deal throughout her childhood, coming to associate each book she voraciously read with the state or country she lived in while reading it. To this day she remembers Japan when she thinks of The Lord of the Rings, or The Once and Future King when she recalls Maine. Eventually McKinley she began to write her own stories. After finishing high school she enrolled at Dickinson College. She left after about 18 months and found work as an editor and transcriber. In 1975 she graduated from Bowdoin College, finishing summa cum laude. Her first novel, Beauty was published in 1978 when she was 26 years old. It has since become a classic young adult fantasy novel, as have many of her other works. McKinley's books appeal to readers through both her engaging female heroines and through the lushly detailed and mature elegance of her prose. She currently lives in Hampshire, England with husband and fellow author Peter Dickinson.

Husband: Peter Dickinson

    High School: Gould Academy, Bethel, ME
    University: Dickinson College (1970-1972)
    University: Bowdoin College (1975)

    Newbery Medal 1985 for The Hero and the Crown

Official Website:
http://www.robinmckinley.com/

Author of books:
Rose Daughter (1997)
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (1978)
Spindle's End (2000)
Sunshine (2003)
The Blue Sword (1982)
The Door in the Hedge (1982)
The Hero and the Crown (1984)
The Outlaws of Sherwood (1988)
Deerskin (1993)
Rowan (1992)
The Stone Fey (1998)

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