Betty Lou Baker (1928-1987) was an American writer of

young adult literature Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

, who specialized in

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

about the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. "The best of her books display a remarkable sensitivity to and appreciation of Native peoples and cultures".

Life

Betty Lou Baker was born in

Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania Bloomsburg is a town and the county seat of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre along the Susquehanna River. It is the only ...

, on June 20, 1928, the daughter of Robert Weidler Baker and Mary Baker, née Wentling. She attended school in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was original ...

. In 1947 she married Robert George Venturo. Baker wrote her first novel, ''Little Runner of the Longhouse'' (1962), for her son, Christopher, inspired by a boring school history book to try to write something more engaging. Baker and Venturo divorced in 1965. She continued to write, training herself to write at least five thousand words a day. Baker won the

Western Heritage Award The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native Americans in the United States, American Indian art works and Artifact (archaeology), ar ...

in 1964 and 1971, and the

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

of the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

in 1968. She died November 6, 1987, in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Her papers are held by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Special Collections.

Works

;Novels * ''Little Runner of the Longhouse''. New York: Harper, 1962. Illustrated by

Arnold Lobel Arnold Stark Lobel (May 22, 1933 – December 4, 1987) was an American author of children's books, including the '' Frog and Toad'' series and '' Mouse Soup''. He wrote and illustrated these picture books as well as ''Fables'', a 1981 Caldecott M ...

. * ''The Sun's Promise''. New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1962. Illustrated by Juliette Palmer * ''Killer-Of-Death''. New York: Harper, 1963. Illustrated by John Kaufmann. * ''The Shaman's Last Raid''. New York: Harper, 1963. Illustrated by Leonard Shortall. * ''Walk the World's Rim''. New York: Harper, 1965. * ''The Blood of the Brave''. New York: Harper, 1966. * ''The Dunderhead War''. New York: Harper, 1967. * ''Do Not Annoy the Indians''. New York: Macmillan, 1968. Illustrated by Harold Goodwin. * ''And One Was a Wooden Indian''. New York: Macmillan, 1970. * ''A Stranger and Afraid''. New York: Macmillan, 1972. * ''The Big Push''. New York: Coward, 1972. Illustrated by Bonnie Johnson. * ''The Spirit is Willing''. New York: Macmillan, 1974. * ''Dupper''. New York: Greenwillow, 1976. Illustrated by Chuck Eckart. * ''The Great Desert Race''. New York: Macmillan, 1980. ;Non-fiction * ''Settlers and Strangers: Native Americans of the Desert Southwest and History as They Saw It''. 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Betty Lou 1928 births 1987 deaths Southwestern United States in fiction American historical novelists Women historical novelists American young adult novelists Women writers of young adult literature