Margaret Bechard (born 1953) is an American author of contemporary and science fiction for children and

young adults A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

Biography

Bechard was born in 1953 in Chico, California. She received her

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English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

in 1976. She is married to Lee Boekelheide and they have three sons and four grandchildren. She lives in Tigard,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Bechard served as the Young People's Literature Chair of the 2006

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

Committee. Her books are published in English, French, Swedish and Korean. She teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at

Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...

Awards

In 1996, ''Star Hatchling'', a middle grade novel about

first contact First contact may refer to: *First contact (astronomy), the moment in astronomical transit when the apparent positions of the two bodies first touch *First contact (anthropology), the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another ...

, received the

Eleanor Cameron Eleanor Frances (Butler) Cameron (March 23, 1912 – October 11, 1996) was a children's author and critic. She published 20 books in her lifetime, including ''The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet'' (1954) and its sequels, a collection of c ...

Award, a

Golden Duck Award The Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction were given annually from 1992 to 2017. The awards were presented every year at either Worldcon or the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). In 2018 they were replace ...

for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction. ''Hanging on to Max'', a story about a teenage father, was an

ALA Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, S ...

Best Book for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

and

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 ...

Best Book of the Year in 2004.Yampbell, Cat. "Judging a Book by its Cover: Publishing Trends in Young Adult Literature." ''The Lion and the Unicorn'' 29.3 (2005) 348–372. (Johns Hopkins University Press)

Bibliography

*''My Sister, My Science Report'' (1990) *''Tory and Me and the Spirit of True Love'' (1992) *''Really No Big Deal'' (1994) *''Star Hatchling'' (1995) *''My Mom Married the Principal'' (1998) - a sequel to ''Really No Big Deal'' *''If It Doesn't Kill You'' (1999) *''Hanging on to Max'' (2002) *''Spacer and Rat'' (2005)

References

interviews

Leitich Smith, Cynthia. "Author Interview: Margaret Bechard on Spacer and Rat. Cynsations. February 10, 2006.

External links

* :sv:Margaret Bechard
Penguin Press: Biography: Margaret Bechard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bechard, Margaret American children's writers Reed College alumni People from Tigard, Oregon 1953 births People from Chico, California Living people Writers from California Writers from Oregon 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers American women children's writers