Jim Murphy (author)
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Jim Murphy (born September 25, 1947)[1] is an American author of more than 35 nonfiction and fiction books for children, young adults, and general audiences, including more than 30 about American history.[2] He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2010 for his contribution in writing for teens.[3]
Life[]
James John Patrick Murphy was born in Kearny, New Jersey.[1][4]
Murphy is married to the writer and editor Alison Blank.[2] They are co-authors of Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure, published by Clarion in 2012.
Awards[]
The ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award recognizes one writer and a particular body of work for "significant lasting contribution to young-adult literature". Murphy won the annual award in 2010, citing five nonfiction books published from 1992 to 2003: The Long Road to Gettysburg, The Great Fire, A YOUNG PATRIOT: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy, BLIZZARD! The Storm That Changed America, and An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (‡). According to the citation, "Murphy's well-researched books bring history alive through multiple narratives involving young people. Primary sources, maps, photos, illustrations and dialogue reveal the drama of historical events, making Murphy's books fast-paced reading of particular interest for young adults. The reader participates in the lives of these individuals and the events that shaped history."[3]
Beside the Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young-adult literature, the American librarians have named Murphy a runner-up for annual Newbery Medals twice, in 1996 for The Great Fire and in 2004 for An American Plague. The Newbery is the ALA's premier book award for children's literature.[5] He won the ALA award for children's information books, the Robert F. Sibert Medal, for The American Plague in 2004 and he was a runner-up for BLIZZARD! in 2001.[6] (The American Plague was also a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.)
Murphy has also won three NCTE Orbis Pictus Awards, three Jefferson Cup Awards, two SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Distinguished Nonfiction, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.[2] In 2013 he received the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature, presented by the Tulsa Library Trust.[7]
Selected works[]
Nonfiction[]
- Weird & Wacky Inventions (Crown Publishers, 1978)
- The Boys' War: Confederate and Union soldiers talk about the Civil War (Clarion Books, 1990)
- The Long Road to Gettysburg (Clarion, 1992) ‡
- Across America on an Emigrant Train (Clarion, 1993) — incorporating an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's account
- The Great Fire (Scholastic Corporation, 1995) ‡
- A YOUNG PATRIOT: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy (Clarion, 1995) ‡ — evidently an adaptation of Joseph Plumb Martin's account
- Gone a-whaling: the lure of the sea and the hunt for the great whale (Clarion, 1998)
- BLIZZARD! The Storm That Changed America (Scholastic, 2000) ‡
- An American Plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 (Clarion, 2003) ‡
- Inside the Alamo (Delacorte Books, 2003)
- Desperate Journey (Scholastic, 2006) —delivering goods by barge on the Erie Canal
- The Real Benedict Arnold (Clarion, 2007)
- A Savage Thunder: Antietam and the bloody road to freedom (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009)
- Truce: the day the soldiers stopped fighting (Scholastic, 2009)
- THE CROSSING: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution (Scholastic, 2010)
- The Giant and How He Humbugged America (Scholastic, 2012)
- Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure, by Murphy and Alison Blank (Clarion, 2012)
(‡) Five nonfiction books were cited by the panel of American librarians who awarded Murphy the 2010 Edwards Award.[3]
Fiction[]
- Horror
- Night Terrors (Scholastic, 1994)
- Children's picture books
- The Last Dinosaur, illustrated by Mark Alan Weatherby (Scholastic, 1988)
- The Call Of The Wolves, illus. Weatherby (Scholastic, 1989)
- Dear America books
- My Face to the Wind: the diary of Sarah Jane Price, a prairie teacher (Scholastic, 2001)
- The Journal of James Edmond Pease, a Civil War Union Soldier (Scholastic, 1998)
- West to a Land of Plenty : the diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi (Scholastic, 1998)
- The Journal of Brian Doyle: a greenhorn on an Alaskan whaling ship (Scholastic, 2003)
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b For vital data Library of Congress Authorities cites 1978 communication with publisher, 1994 communication with Murphy, and the Scholastic Books website.[1] Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "About the Author". Jim Murphy: Making History Come Alive. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c
"2010 Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner Jim Murphy". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). American Library Association (ALA).
"Edwards Award". YALSA. ALA. Retrieved 2013-10-11. - ^ "Jim Murphy". Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ^ "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922–Present". ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
- ^ "Robert F. Sibert Medal and Honor Books, 2001–present". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). ALA. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
- ^ "Jim Murphy wins 2013 Anne Zarrow Award". James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World. February 10, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
External links[]
- Official website
- Works by or about Alison Blank in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Jim Murphy, 1947– at Library of Congress Authorities — with 39 catalog records
- Jim Murphy papers, MSS 2244 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
- 1947 births
- Living people
- American children's writers
- American historical novelists
- Children's non-fiction writers
- Margaret A. Edwards Award winners
- Newbery Honor winners
- 20th-century American novelists
- 21st-century American novelists
- 20th-century American historians
- 21st-century American historians
- American male novelists
- 20th-century American male writers
- 21st-century American male writers
- American male non-fiction writers