Ann Rinaldi

Ann Rinaldi (b. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author. She is best known for her historical fiction, including "In My Father's House", "The Last Silk Dress", "An Acquaintance with Darkness", "A Break with Charity", and "Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons". She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. In 2000, "Wolf by the Ears" was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years. She is the most prolific writer for the "Great Episode" series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. She also writes for the "Dear America" series.

Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. She continued the column, called "The Trentonian", through much of her writing career. Her first published novel, "Term Paper", was written in 1979. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called "terrible." She became a grandmother in 1991.

Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. She says that she writes young adult books "because I like to write them."

Bibliography

Great Episodes

*"A Ride into Morning" (1991), ISBN 0-15-200573-0
*"A Break with Charity" (1992), ISBN 0-15-200353-3
*"The Fifth of March" (1993), ISBN 0-15-200343-6
*"Finishing Becca" (1994), ISBN 0-15-200880-2
*"The Secret of Sarah Revere" (1995), ISBN 0-15-200393-2
*"Keep Smiling Through" (1996), ISBN 0-15-200768-7
*"Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons" (1996), ISBN 0-15-200876-4
*"An Acquaintance with Darkness" (1997), ISBN 0-15-201294-X
*"Cast Two Shadows" (1998), ISBN 0-15-200881-0
*"The Coffin Quilt" (1999), ISBN 0-15-202015-2
*"The Staircase" (2000), ISBN 0-15-202430-1
*"Or Give Me Death" (2003), ISBN 0-15-216687-4
*"An Unlikely Friendship" (2007), ISBN 0-15-205597-5
*"Come Juneteenth" (2007), ISBN 0-15-205947-4
*"The Ever-After Bird" (2007), ISBN 0-15-202620-7
*"Juliet's Moon" (2008), ISBN 0-15-206170-3
*"The Letter Writer" (2008)
*"My Vicksburg" (2009)

Quilt Trilogy

#"A Stitch in Time" (1994), ISBN 0-590-46055-2
#"Broken Days" (1995), ISBN 0-590-46053-6
#"The Blue Door" (1996), ISBN 0-590-46051-X

Dear America

*"My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl" (1999), ISBN 0-590-14922-9
*"The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, a Pilgrim Boy" (2000), ISBN 0-590-51078-9

Others

*"Term Paper" (1980), ISBN 0-8027-6395-2
*"Promises Are for Keeping" (1982), ISBN 0-8027-6442-8
*"But in the Fall I'm Leaving" (1985), ISBN 0-8234-0560-5
*"Time Enough for Drums" (1986), ISBN 0-8234-0603-2
*"The Good Side of My Heart" (1987), ISBN 0-8234-0648-2
*"The Last Silk Dress" (1988), ISBN 0-8234-0690-3
*"Wolf by the Ears" (1991), ISBN 0-590-43413-6
*"In My Father's House" (1992), ISBN 0-590-44730-0
*"The Second Bend in the River" (1997), ISBN 0-590-74258-2
*"Mine Eyes Have Seen" (1997), ISBN 0-590-54318-0
*"Amelia's War" (1999), ISBN 0-590-11744-0
*"The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color, 1832" (2000), ISBN 0-7868-0532-3
*"Girl in Blue" (2001), ISBN 0-439-07336-7
*"Numbering All the Bones" (2002), ISBN 0-7868-0533-1
*"Millicent's Gift" (2002), ISBN 0-06-029636-4
*"Taking Liberty: The Story of Oney Judge, George Washington's Runaway Slave" (2002), ISBN 0-689-85187-1
*"Sarah's Ground" (2004), ISBN 0-689-85924-4
*"Mutiny's Daughter" (2004), ISBN 0-06-029638-0
*"Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey" (2005), ISBN 0-06-054923-8
*"Brooklyn Rose" (2005), ISBN 0-15-205117-1
*"The Color of Fire" (2005), ISBN 0-7868-0938-8
*"The Redheaded Princess" (2008), ISBN 0-0607-3374-8