Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?

Acclaimed biographer, Jean Fritz, was born in China to American missionaries on November 16, 1915. Living there until she was almost thirteen sparked a lifelong interest in American history.  She wrote about her childhood in China in Homesick, My Own Story, a Newbery Honor Book and winner of the National Book Award.     Ms. Fritz was the author of forty-five books for children and young people. Many center on historical American figures, gaining her a reputation as the premier author of biographies for children and young people.     Among the other prestigious awards Ms. Fritz has garnered are: the  National Endowment for the Humanities Medal, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award. the Christopher Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Non-Fiction Award, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and many ALA Notable Books of the Year, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, and ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice Awards.     She passed away on May 14, 2017. 

Trina Schart Hyman was a children’s book illustrator for more than 30 years. Hyman graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1960. She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for her work on Margaret Hodges’ book Saint George and the Dragon. Hyman was one of the first white illustrators along with Ezra Jack Keats to regularly incorporate black characters into her illustrations. She spent the last 10 years of her life with her romantic partner, Jean K. Aull, and passed away in 2004.