By: A. D.

About the author….

• Ann’s mother died soon after she was born. She had to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. After a brief period of living with them, she went to live with her father, other siblings, and a stepmother.

• Her family discouraged her to follow her dreams so she was not permitted to attend college after she was finished with high school. Instead, she became a secretary, but left that profession in 1960 when she married Rex Rinaldi.

• Ann Rinaldi is an award winning author, most known for her historical fiction, has authored over a dozen young adult novels. Ann first became interested in studying American history when her son became active in Revolutionary War re-enactments when he was in high school. Writing historical fiction has since then become a passion for Ann Rinaldi.

• She spends a great deal of time researching the historical periods in which her novels take place to insure the accuracy of the settings and draws from her own life experiences to develop the realism of her characters. The conflicts which her protagonists face reflect concerns common to young adults, past and present.

These are some of the books that she has published over her years

Promises Are For Keeping (1982) But In the Fall I'm Leaving (1985) Time Enough For Drums (1986) Good Side of My Heart, the (1987) Last Silk Dress, the (1988) Wolf By the Ears (1991) Ride Into Morning, a (1991) Break With Charity, a (1992) In My Father's House (1993)

• • • • • • • • • Fifth of March, the (1993) Finishing Becca (1994) Stitch in Time, a (1994) Secret of Sarah Revere, the (1995) Broken Days (1995) Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons (1996) Keep Smiling Through (1996) Blue Door, the (1996) Second Bend in the River, the (1997)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Acquaintance with Darkness, an (1997) Cast Two Shadows (1998) Mine Eyes Have Seen (1998) My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 (1999) Coffin Quilt, the (1999) Amelia's War (1999) Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, the: A Pilgrim Boy, Plymouth, 1620 (2000) Staircase, the (2000) Education of Mary, the (2000) Girl in Blue (2001) Numbering All the Bones (2002) Millicent's Gift (2002) Taking Liberty (2002) Or Give Me Death (2003) Sarah's Ground (2004) Mutiny's Daughter (2004) Brooklyn Rose (2005)

• In 1960, Ann married Ron Rinaldi. She explains, "Ron was middle-class and sane. I wanted sanity after my crazy upbringing." After marrying, Ann left the business world and, after having two children, decided she wanted to be a novelist

• In 1979, Ann finally finished a short story she had been laboring over for years. She explains, "My experience in the newspaper business and as a parent gave me so much more to bring to my fiction." That short story, entitled Term Paper became her first published novel. Term Paper. • Ann explains that she did not write her story for young adults and that only after finishing it did she realize that what she had written could be marketed as a young adult novel. Term Paper was bought by the first publisher who read it and was soon followed by its sequel, Promises are for Keeping.

• Ann Rinaldi is acclaimed for her historical novels, of which eight have been named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Author of more than thirty titles, she sets the standard for the genre in excellence and accuracy with her modern-day classics Wolf by the Ears and In My Father's House.

• Ann Rinaldi is acclaimed for her historical novels, of which eight have been named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Author of more than thirty titles, she sets the standard for the genre in excellence and accuracy with her modern-day classics Wolf by the Ears and In My Father's House.

• Ann has gotten many awards for her books. She has inspired many young girls to be a fan of history and also many boys as well. She hopes to get them interested in wanting to know more about history and our past.

Now that you’ve read about Ann Rinaldi, go check out one of her books and you’re guaranteed to love it!