AMY NATHAN's Web Site
WELCOME!
Amy today, at her home not too far from New York City

Amy, age 5, on a family vacation in Western Maryland

--GREW UP IN:
Baltimore, MD
--HOBBIES AS A KID:
Piano, swimming, reading, trumpet, ballet, acting
--FAVORITE BOOKS AS A KID:
Little House books, "Twenty and Ten," "Bright April," biographies, historical fiction
--PETS AS A KID:
Cocker spaniels named Inky and Yankee Doodle Dandy
--EDUCATION:
Public schools in Baltimore:
P.S. 232,
P.S. 91,
Western High School (all-girls' public high school);
B.A. from Harvard;
M.A.T. from Harvard Graduate School of Education;
M.A. from Columbia's Teachers College;
Photography classes at Westchester Center for the Arts
--WRITING CAREER: After nearly 15 years as an associate editor writing and editing magazine articles in kids' magazines, I set out in 1994 as a freelance author, writing nonfiction books for young people
--HOBBIES NOW:
Piano, photography, reading, hiking, cooking, going to: concerts, dance performances, the gym, movies and plays
--HOME NOW:
Westchester County, New York
-- AUTHOR ORGANIZATIONS:
PEN, SCBWI, Authors Guild
--PETS NOW:
Our beagle is still with us in our hearts -- he died in March at age 17.


Amy, age 7, in her second grade classroom at Baltimore's P.S. 232 -- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School

Message From
Amy Nathan

My books cover a wide range of topics, from women's history to dance to allowances to how to make practicing a musical instrument — or doing homework — less of a hassle.

However, all my books have something in common: They introduce you to amazing people whose stories have inspired me and, I hope, will spur you to keep following your dreams, no matter what kinds of obstacles may pop up from time to time that may seem to block your way. These people found ways around the obstacles they encountered. They all have fascinating stories to tell. I'm glad to have had a chance to get to know them so I can share their stories and ideas with you through my books.

With many of the people I write about, I was lucky enough to be able to interview them. I love interviewing people, speaking with them to find out more about what they like to do, how they've handled the different challenges they've faced in their lives, and what advice they have for kids today. I also love reading about people who lived long ago, something I did for COUNT ON US, which tells the story of women who pitched in to defend the nation from the Revolutionary War on. As a kid growing up in Baltimore, my favorite books were biographies and historical fiction. I remember walking down to my neighborhood branch library every week during the summers after fifth, sixth and seventh grades, to check out yet another biography. I also enjoyed seeing plays as a kid, and acting in them too sometimes, which is another great way to see the world from another person’s point of view.

I've learned so much from the people I've written about in my books. I hope their stories — and the advice they have for young people — will help you with challenges you might face. Such people as:

** Courageous people — from young kids, high schoolers and college students to teachers, housewives, lawyers, professors, business people, union members, priests, rabbis and pastors — who protested and risked arrest in order to bring an end to Jim Crow segregation at a Baltimore amusement park in the summer of 1963 (you can find out about them in ROUND AND ROUND TOGETHER);
** Astonishing dancers from top ballet and modern dance companies, several of whom didn’t have the stereotypical classical ballet body type, but who still managed to find their way to in the world of dance (you can find out about them in MEET THE DANCERS);
** Outstanding musicians of the New York Philharmonic who, amazingly enough, didn't always like to practice when they were kids and have advice for kids today who may feel that way, too (you can listen to them in MEET THE MUSICIANS);
** Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and other classical and jazz soloists, many of whom took a while as kids to get into the groove of regular practicing until they discovered for themselves the joy and the fun of music-making (you read learn from them in THE YOUNG MUSICIAN'S SURVIVAL GUIDE);
** Gutsy female pilots who flew fighter planes for the Army in World War II when that was definitely not something most people thought a woman should do (you can find their stories in YANKEE DOODLE GALS & COUNT ON US);
** A courageous young woman who stood up for her rights at a lonely bus stop in North Carolina back in the summer of 1952, doing her part in the face of grave danger to help bring about the end of the Jim Crow era (you can read about her in TAKE A SEAT-MAKE A STAND);
** Some mighty clever kids who found ways to make homework less of a chore and uncovered the secret to getting a raise in their allowance (you can find their tips in THE KIDS' ALLOWANCE BOOK & SURVIVING HOMEWORK).



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ AWARDS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ NOTABLE SOCIAL STUDIES TRADE BOOK
........MEET THE DANCERS - NCSS
~ CLARION AWARD Best Nonfiction Book:
........COUNT ON US
~ PARENTS' CHOICE AWARD:
........YOUNG MUSICIAN'S SURVIVAL GUIDE
~ BOOK-of-the-WEEK, Washington Post:
........COUNT ON US
~ BOOK-of-the-WEEK, Washington Post:
........TAKE A SEAT--MAKE A STAND
~ TEN-TIME EDPRESS AWARD winner for
........Excellence in Educational Journalism
~ Kansas State Reading Circle
........MEET THE DANCERS
~ New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age:
........MEET THE MUSICIANS
........YOUNG MUSICIAN'S SURVIVAL GUIDE
~ Regional Clarion Awards: YANKEE DOODLE GALS, YOUNG MUSICIAN'S SURVIVAL GUIDE, KIDS' ALLOWANCE BOOK, SURVIVING HOMEWORK