Elaine Marie Alphin (October 30, 1955 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

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 ...

– August 19, 2014 in

Glenrock, Wyoming Glenrock is a town in Converse County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 2,576 at the 2010 census. History Glenrock, known as Deer Creek Station, had its beginning as a mail and stage station along the Oregon Trail. The station served ...

) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of more than thirty books for children and young adults. Although she specialized in fiction, she has published many

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

titles, including biographies of

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, and

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

, which she co-wrote with her husband

Arthur Alphin Lieutenant Colonel Arthur ("Art") B. (Brent) Alphin (born September 5, 1948) is a retired United States Army officer and military historian. He is the founder and owner of A-Square, manufacturer of American hunting rifles. He taught military h ...

(as part of Lerner Publishing's History Maker Biographies series). She is noted for writing

historical fiction 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 ...

and psychological thrillers. Several of her novels dealt with controversial topics such as

serial killers A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, pedophiles,

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, and

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. At the same time those titles have proven extremely popular with both critics and young readers. Elaine Marie Alphin is one of the subjects of the Contemporary Authors series, a collection of biographies published by

Thomson Gale Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...

in 2007. In August 2011 Alphin suffered a stroke, which essentially ended her writing career. Her last book was ''An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank'' (2010). Alphin died at home in

on August 19, 2014.

Themes

Ghosts

Several of Alphin's novels are

ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

. Two, ''Ghost Cadet'' and ''Ghost Soldier'', deal with ghosts of child-soldiers from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

who require help from present-day children to achieve their final rest. ''Ghost Cadet'' has been Mrs. Alphin's most successful book to date, going through several editions in both hardback and paperback. The book's popularity with young readers prompted her publishers to ask for a companion novel – ''Ghost Soldier''. In ''Tournament of Time'', one of her early novels, an American school girl living in England befriends the ghosts of two medieval princes, allegedly murdered by

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

, and battles the 500-year-old ghost of their murderer. The story has been much praised for its historical accuracy and attention to detail, as well as its thrilling denouement.

Gay characters

''The Perfect Shot,'' ''Picture Perfect'', and ''Simon Says'' feature main or secondary characters who happen to be homosexuals. Their sexuality is not central to the plots.

Child abuse

Child abuse and its aftermath is a major theme of ''Counterfeit Son''. It also features pornography in ''Picture Perfect'' and, to a lesser extent, ''The Perfect Shot''.

Books

*''The Ghost Cadet'', Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1991. *''The Proving Ground'', Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1992. *''101 Bible Puzzles'', Standard, 1993. *''Tournament of Time'', Bluegrass Books, 1994. *''Rainy Day/Sunny Day/Any Day Activities'', Concordia (St. Louis, MO), 1994. *''A Bear for Miguel'', pictures by Joan Sandin, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996. * ''

Counterfeit Son ''Counterfeit Son'' is a 2000 novel by Elaine Marie Alphin and was written for young adults. It received a 2001 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Young Adult Mystery. It is a psychological thriller. Plot Cameron Miller ...

'', Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000. *''Creating Characters Kids Will Love, Writer's Digest Books'' (Cincinnati, OH), 2000. *''Ghost Soldier'', Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2001. *''Around the World in 1500'', Benchmark Books (New York, NY), 2001. *''Simon Says'', Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002. *''Germ Hunter: A Story about Louis Pasteur'', Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2002. *''Picture Perfect'', Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2003. *''Davy Crockett'', Lerner (Minneapolis, MN), 2003. *''Dwight D. Eisenhower'', Lerner (Minneapolis, MN), 2004. (With husband, Arthur B. Alphin) *''Dinosaur Hunter'', HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004. *''The Perfect Shot'', Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2005 *''An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank'' (2010).

Awards

Alphin's novels have been placed on many state-sponsored reading lists, as well as receiving nominations for various writing awards. In 2001 her novel ''Counterfeit Son'' won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel. Other major awards include: * 2011 Carter G. Woodson Book Award for ''An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank'' * 2006 Foreword Book of the Year Gold Medal for Young Adult Fiction for ''The Perfect Shot'' * 2006 Bank Street College Teen Selection for ''The Perfect Shot'' * 2005 VOYA Top Shelf Fiction Award for ''The Perfect Shot'' * 2004 Bank Street College Children's Selection for ''I Have Not Yet Begun To Fight'' * 2004 Young Hoosier Book Award for ''Ghost Soldier'' * 2003 New Jersey Library Association Pick of the Decade Selection for ''A Bear for Miguel'' * 2003 Edgar Allan Poe Nomination for Best Juvenile Mystery for ''Ghost Soldier'' * 2003 Bank Street College Children's Selection for ''Germ Hunter'' * 2003 VOYA Top Shelf Fiction Award for ''Picture Perfect'' * 2003 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award for "Dinosaur Hunter" * 2002 Society of Midland Authors Children's Fiction Award for ''Ghost Soldier'' * 2001 Edgar Award for ''Counterfeit Son'' * 2000 Indianapolis Christian University International Washington Irving Literary Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Writing * 1995 Virginia State Reading Association Award for ''Ghost Cadet''

References

External links

Official BlogBio at Teen ReadsReview of The Perfect ShotObituary by Mahnaz Dar
''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'', August 22, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Alphin, Elaine Marie 1955 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American children's writers American women children's writers American women novelists American young adult novelists Carter G. Woodson Book Award winners Edgar Award winners People from Glenrock, Wyoming Writers from San Francisco