Florence Crannell Means (May 15, 1891 - November 19, 1980) was an American writer for children and young adults. For her 1945 novel, ''The Moved-Outers'', she received a Newbery Medal honor award and the Child Study Association of America

Children's Book Award Children's Book Award is a generic term that has been applied to: * Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Medal, annual "most distinguished American picture book for children" * Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award from the Vermont Department of Lib ...

Biography

Florence Crannell Means was born May 15, 1891, in

Baldwinsville, New York Baldwinsville is a Village (New York), village in Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 7,898 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Syracuse, New York, ...

. In 1946 her novel about Japanese internment, '' The Moved-Outers'', won a Newbery Medal honor award and the

(now Josette Frank Award) from the Child Study Association of America. In his "Without Evasion" essay in '' The Horn Book Magazine'', Jan/Feb 1945,

Howard Pease Howard Pease (September 6, 1894–April 14, 1974) was an American writer of adventure stories from Stockton, California. Most of his stories revolved around a young protagonist, Joseph Todhunter ("Tod") Moran, who shipped out on tramp freight ...

says: "Only at infrequent intervals do you find a story intimately related to this modern world, a story that takes up a modern problem and thinks it through without evasion. Of our thousands of books, I can find scarcely half a dozen that merit places on this almost vacant shelf in our libraries; and of our hundreds of authors, I can name only three who are doing anything to fill this void in children's reading. These three authors – may someone present each of them with a laurel wreath – are

Doris Gates Doris Gates (November 26, 1901 – September 3, 1987) was one of America's first writers of realistic children's fiction. Her novel ''Blue Willow'', about the experiences of Janey Larkin, the ten-year-old daughter of a migrant farm worker in 193 ...

John R. Tunis John Roberts Tunis (December 7, 1889 – February 4, 1975), "the 'inventor' of the modern sports story", was an American writer and broadcaster. Known for his juvenile sports novels, Tunis also wrote short stories and non-fiction, including ...

, and Florence Crannell Means." Many of Means' books dealt with the experiences of minorities in America, such as Japanese Americans in ''The Moved-Outers'' and African Americans in ''Shuttered Windows''. She married Carl Bell Means and died November 19, 1980 at

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. Means and her husband are buried at Crown Hill Cemetery,

Wheat Ridge, Colorado The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

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Works

*''Rafael and Consuelo'' with Harriet Louise Fullen, Friendship Press, 1929 *''A Candle in the Mist: A Story for Girls'',

Houghton Mifflin Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financ ...

, 1931 *''Penny for Luck: A Story of the Rockies'', Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935 *''Shuttered Windows'', Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938 *'' The Moved-Outers'', Houghton Mifflin, 1945; reprint Walker, 1993, *''Great Day in the Morning'', Houghton Mifflin, 1946 *''The Silver Fleece: A Story of the Spanish in New Mexico'', Winston, 1950 *''Hetty of the Grande Deluxe'', Houghton Mifflin, 1951 *''The Rains Will Come'', illustrator

Fred Kabotie Fred Kabotie (c. 1900–1986) was a celebrated Hopi painter, silversmith, illustrator, potter, author, curator and educator. His native name in the Hopi language is Naqavoy'ma which translates to Day After Day. Background and education Fred Ka ...

, Houghton Mifflin, 1954 *''Sagebrush Surgeon'', Friendship Press, NY, 1955 *''Knock at the Door, Emmy'', Houghton Mifflin, 1956 *''Reach for a Star'', Houghton Mifflin, 1957 *''Emmy and the Blue Door'', Houghton Mifflin, 1959 *''Sunlight on the Hopi Mesas: The Story of Abigail E. Johnson'',

Judson Press The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospe ...

, 1960 *''Tolliver'', Houghton Mifflin, 1963 *''Carvers' George: A Biography of George Washington Carver'', illustrator Harve Stein, E.M. Hale, 1963 *''It Takes All Kinds'', Houghton Mifflin, 1964 *''A Bowlful of Stars, A Story of the Pioneer West'', Houghton Mifflin, 1934

References

External links

* *
"Early Images of American Minorities: Rediscovering Florence Crannell Means"
''The Lion and the Unicorn'', Volume 11, Number 1, June 1987, pp. 98–115 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Means, Florence Crannell 1891 births 1980 deaths American children's writers American writers of young adult literature Newbery Honor winners Writers from New York (state)