Anne Laurel Carter (born September 22, 1953) is a

Canadian author This is a list of Canadian literary figures, including poets, novelists, children's writers, essayists, and scholars. __NOTOC__ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X ...

with eighteen published books, mostly for young adults and children.

Life

Born in

Don Mills Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting " new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper. In 1998, North York, including the Don Mills c ...

, the youngest of four children, she began a science program at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, intending to study medicine, but left the program in her second year. At the age of 19, she went to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

where she studied

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, staying for a year and a half during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

. She met her first husband in Israel; they moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and were married. The couple then moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where Carter earned a BA from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

and a

BEd A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

from the University of Toronto. She took part in a

French immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French-immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects s ...

program, staying in Trois Pistoles,

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the judicial district of Kamouraska. Its one of ...

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

and

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

(France). Carter then taught English as a second language at

Eastmain Eastmain ( ; cr, ᐄᔅᒣᐃᓐ/Îsmein) is a Cree community located on east coast of James Bay at the mouth of the Eastmain River, Quebec, Canada. It is a small coastal Cree village with a population of 924 people in the 2021 Canadian Censu ...

Mistissini Mistissini ( cr, ᒥᔅᑎᓯᓃ/Mistisinî meaning Big Rock) is a Cree town located in the south-east corner of the largest natural lake in Quebec, Lake Mistassini. The town is inside the boundaries of the Baie-James Municipality and is the ...

and

Chisasibi Chisasibi ( cr, ᒋᓵᓰᐲ, translit=Cisâsîpî; meaning Great River) is a village on the eastern shore of James Bay, in the Eeyou Istchee equivalent territory (ET) in northern Quebec, Canada. It is situated on the south shore of La Grande R ...

in northern Quebec. In 1984, she completed a MEd in second language learning at the

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is Canada's only all-graduate institute of teaching, learning and research, located in Toronto, Ontario. It is located directly above the St. George subway sta ...

. She began teaching in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. After reconnecting with a male friend from Toronto there, she moved to Bramalea, a neighbourhood of

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

, where she taught school, married and had four children. Carter began submitting stories for publication. In 1997, her story "No Missing Parts" won second prize in a contest sponsored by the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

''. Her next story "Leaving the Iron Lung" won second prize in the same competition i the following year. A revised version of the story was published and received the Vicky Metcalf Short Story Award. In 1999, she published her first book ''Tall in the Saddle''. Carter teaches children's book courses privately and also at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.

Criticism

Carter's 2008 book '' The Shepherd's Granddaughter'', about a Palestinian farm girl, has received the

Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award The Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award is a literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian children's book. The book must be written in English and published in Canada during the preceding year (and nominated by ...

, the Society of School Librarians Best International Book Award, the IRA Notable Book for a Global Society and the Jane Addams Honor Award for peace. It also sparked controversy; it was labelled as "anti-Israel" by

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...

, who asked that the book be removed from Ontario's recommended reading lists for schools. Groundwood Books publisher Patsy Aldana praised the book, releasing a statement arguing that "No less a figure than

James Loney James Anthony Loney (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Mets, and in Korea Baseball Org ...

, who was held hostage in Iraq by extremists and who works for Christian Peacemaker Teams, has praised the book for its balance."

Selected works

Her works include: * ''From Poppa'', children's fiction (1999) * ''The Girl on Evangeline Beach'', young adult fiction (2000) * ''In the Clear'', young adult fiction (2001), finalist for the 2002 Ontario Library Association Silver Birch Award Program. * ''Under a Prairie Sky'', children's fiction (2002), received the Mr. Christie's Book Award * ''No Missing Parts And Other Stories About Real Princesses'', stories (2002) * ''Circus Play'', children's fiction (2002) * ''Elizabeth: Bless This House'', young adult fiction (2002) * ''The F Team'', children's fiction (2003) * ''Last Chance Bay'', children's fiction (2004), received the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award * ''My Wedding Dress'', novel (2007) * ''Out of the Deeps'', children's fiction (2008) * ''Night Boy'', children's fiction (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Anne Laurel 1953 births Living people Canadian children's writers Canadian writers of young adult literature University of Toronto alumni York University alumni People from Brampton People from North York