BIOGRAPHY OF HARRIETTE GILLEM ROBINET

      Harriette Gillem Robinet was born and raised in Washington,

D. C., graduated from the College of New Rochelle, in New

Rochelle, New York, and finished graduate degrees in microbiology from Catholic

University of America in Washington, D.C.

      She spent her childhood summers in Arlington, Virginia

where her mother’s father had been a slave until he was thirteen under General

Robert E. Lee. Her father’s people had been

slaves in Maryland.

      She is a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers

and Illustrators; Society of Midland Authors; Sisters in Crime;

Mystery Writers of America; and the National Writers Union.

      Her first two books, JAY AND THE MARIGOLD and

RIDE THE RED CYCLE, are about disabled children. All the

others are historical fiction. She portrays likeable children and

adults, with their needs and struggles, against a pivotal time in

American history.

      She feels that unless we know our history, we have no

perspective on life today. How can we know where we’re

going, or appreciate where we are today, if we don’t know

where we’re coming from? She also discovers that African

Americans have been left out of history. Their stories have

been deliberately changed or ignored.

      She tries to have both European and African American

characters in stories, to have no villains but the systems, and

to thrill as well as uplift her readers.

      RIDE THE RED CYCLE is in 4th and 5th grade readers;

four books were named Notable Books in Social Studies;

CHILDREN OF THE FIRE won the 1991 Award from

Friends of American Writers; WASHINGTON CITY IS

BURNING won the 1997 Carl Sandburg Award; THE

TWINS, THE PIRATES, AND THE BATTLE OF NEW

ORLEANS won the 1998 Midland Authors Award; and

FORTY ACRES AND MAYBE A MULE won the 1999

Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction for children.

WALKING TO THE BUS RIDER BLUES was nominated

for an Edgar Award by Mystery Writers of America;

was a Jane Addams Award Honor book in 2001;

a Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award finalist for 2003;

a Willian Allen White Book Award finalist for 2003 in Kansas;

a 2003-2004 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List finalist.

      Harriette loves reading--especially mysteries, knits by

winter, crochets by summer, and loves pets, both dogs and

cats. She enjoys camping with her family.

      Today Harriette Gillem Robinet lives in Oak Park,

Illinois with her husband, McLouis Robinet. They have

six adult children and four grandchildren.

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