To appease this presumptuous imaginary person, Bauer began writing a novel with Ellie as her main protagonist. Then, in 1987, she was nearly killed in an auto accident, and her life changed dramatically.ĭuring her lengthy recuperation, Bauer kept hearing the voice of an overweight teenager named Ellie in her head. After high school, she attended college for a while, then took a series of jobs in advertising and sales, got married and gave birth to a daughter. In fact, it was a near-death experience that inspired Bauer to begin a second career as a young-adult author.
If I ever had to write a totally serious book, I think I would go screaming into the darkness." "Make me care, and make me laugh - both are very important to me. Humor also is a key element in Bauer's five other books (as well as in some of their titles) "Squashed," "Thwonk," "Sticks," "Rules of the Road" and "Backwater."īauer, 49, said she is always on the lookout for the intersection between serious issues and humor.
In "Hope Was Here," for example, 16-year-old Hope uses humor to deal with the sadness of never knowing who her father was, as well as the poor parenting skills of her terminally immature mother. While many books for young adults (defined by publishers as kids ages 12-18) are angst-ridden, Bauer's books feature characters who tackle difficult life problems while still maintaining a solid sense of humor. Good humor is a Bauer trademark and an essential ingredient in her storytelling success.
"I learned an important lesson Shower early!" Bauer said, and laughed. Bauer had a couple of minutes to collect herself, and then the phone rang incessantly with congratulatory calls until 4 p.m. Instead, it was the American Library Association's Newbery Medal committee, telling an incredulous Bauer that she'd just won a Newbery Honor for her latest young-adult novel, "Hope Was Here" (Putnam, $16.99). "I figured it was a telemarketer and I was going to give him a piece of my mind," she said in a recent interview. When the telephone rang early one recent Monday morning, Joan Bauer was ready to let rip.
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