Jean Ure (born 1 January 1943) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

children's author. Her first book, ''Dance For Two'' (1960), was published by John Goodchild Publishers when she was sixteen and still at school. Since then, she has published over 170 children's books, including the stories of Frankie Foster. She was married to Leonard Gregory until his death in 2020. She lives in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Biography

Jean Ure was born and brought up in a suburb of London and attended school in Croydon. She wrote her first book when she was six years old and had her first book, ''Dance For Two'' published when she was sixteen. Having decided to make a career as a writer, she ran away from school and spent the next few years in a variety of jobs just to make a living. She waited tables, scrubbed floors, sold bread at

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

, did "...a bit of nursing, a bit of translating, a bit of cooking..." before enrolling to study drama at the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (1965–68). She married a fellow student, Leonard Gregory, in 1967. She lives in a 300-year-old house in

, south of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Her most famous

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

is the Point Crime novel ''Dance with Death''. Her other novels include ''

Plague 99 ''Plague 99'' () is a 1989 novel written by Jean Ure. It tells the story of a pandemic that shuts down London, and a group of three teenagers that survive the outbreak. The book takes an apocalypticism, apocalyptic view and details the experie ...

'', ''After the Plague'' (previously published as "Come Lucky April"), ''Big Tom'', ''Family Fan Club'' and ''Shrinking Violet'' as well as the fantasy novel '' The Wizard In the Woods''. Jean has now become very popular with female teenage readers around Britain with novels such as ''Shrinking Violet'', ''Family Fan Club'' and ''Passion Flower'', as well as many other novels. Ure's novel, ''Secret Meeting'', publicises the danger of chat rooms and the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. Another of her novels, ''Is Anybody There?'' talks about the danger of going off with strangers. In a 2006 survey in UK girls magazine Mizz, they noted that Jean Ure, Jacqueline Wilson and J. K. Rowling were the most famous female authors in the United Kingdom. Ure has no children and lives with many animals in her London home. She says that writing her stories on her computer, drives her 'bonkers'. Ure has written several books for teenage girls about boys, such as 'Love and Kisses' which is about a sensible girl who falls for an unsuitable boy and starts lying to her parents in order to see him. Also, many of her books deal with divorce, such as ''Passion Flower'', a book about two girls who are sent to stay with their dad for the summer holidays. Ure also translated novels of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

writer

Sven Hassel Sven Hassel was the pen name of the Danish-born Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen (19 April 1917 – 21 September 2012) known primarily for his novels focusing on stories of German combatants during World War II. In Denmark he used the pen name ''Sven ...

from his

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

to English.Collecting Books and Magazines: Jean Ure bibliography
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Bibliography

*''Dance for Two'' (children's book, published while at *''See You Thursday'' (1980) *''A Proper Little Nooryeff'' (1981) *''Hi There, Supermouse'' (1943) *''After Thursday'' (1984) *''You Win Some, You Lose Some'' (1984) *''If it weren't for Sebastian...'' (1984) *''Nicola Mimosa'' (1985) *''One Green Leaf'' (1987) *''The trouble with Vanessa'' (1988) *''There's always Dannie'' (1989) *''Say Goodbye'' (1989) *''

'' (1989, Lancs Book Award 1990) *'' The Wizard in the Woods'' (1990) *'' The Wizard in Wonderland'' (1991) *'' The Wizard and the Witch'' (1995) *''

Skinny Melon and Me ''Skinny Melon And Me'' is a 1996 children's novel by Jean Ure. It is mainly the diary of pre-teen Cherry, and includes observations of her mum, new stepfather, and best friend, Melanie Skinner (Skinny Melon). Publication history *1996, Engla ...

'' (1996) *''Becky Bananas'' (1997) *''Whistle and I'll Come'' (1997, Stockton Children's Book Award) *''Just 16'' (1999) *''Fruit and Nutcase'' (1999) *''Secret Life of Sally Tomato'' (Later renamed ''The Kissing Game'') (2000) *''A twist in Time'' (2000) *''Shrinking Violet'' (2014) *''Pumpkin Pie'' (2002) *''Bad Alice'' (2003) *''Passion Flower'' (2003) *''Secret Meeting'' (2004) *''Is Anybody There?'' (2004) *''Sugar and Spice'' (2005) *''Star Crazy Me!'' (2008) *''Fortune Cookie'' (2009) *''Love and Kisses'' (2009) *''Ice-lolly'' (2010) *''Frankie Foster - Fizzy Pop'' (2011) *''Frankie Foster - Pick n' Mix'' (2011) *''Frankie Foster - Freaks Out'' (20ñ2) *''Lemonade Sky'' (2012) *''Just Peachy'' (2013) *''Secrets and Dreams'' (2015) *''Strawberry Crush'' (2016)

References

External links

Jean Ure Official website

HarperCollins Books: Jean Ure page

Bookrags: Jean Ure biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ure, Jean 1942 births English children's writers Living people English women novelists