Marilyn Sachs (December 18, 1927 – December 28, 2016) was an American author of award-winning children's books.

Early life and education

Sachs was born in New York City and grew up in the Bronx. She earned a bachelor's degree from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

and a master's in library science from Columbia University. Sachs worked as a children's librarian at the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

while working toward her graduate degree.

Career

Sachs began focusing on her writing during a leave of absence from her library job in 1954. Unable to sell her first novel, ''Amy Moves In'', she set it aside and moved with her husband and children to San Francisco, California in 1961, taking a job at the Main Library. Sachs found a publisher for her book in 1964. By 1968, she had made enough money from her first four published novels to quit her librarian job and become a full-time writer. Sachs wrote 40 books in total, between 1964 and 2006.

Personal life

While living in New York, Sachs was active in the political organization American Youth for Democracy, which is where she met her future husband, sculptor Morris Sachs. Sachs continued her activism later in life, fighting for public school integration and demonstrating against the Vietnam War. In 1991, she co-edited ''The Big Book for Peace''; the proceeds were donated to peace organizations.

Death

Sachs died in San Francisco on December 28, 2016, at the age of 89.

Selected works

* * * * * * *''Matt's Mitt''. Doubleday. 1975. . *''Fleet-Footed Florence'' (sequel to ''Matt's Mitt''). Doubleday. 1981. . * * *

Awards and recognition

* 1968 – ''Veronica Ganz'' – American Library Association Notable Book * 1972 – ''The Bears' House'' – National Book Award finalist * 1973 – ''A Pocket Full of Seeds'' – '' New York Times'' Outstanding Book of the Year * 1991 – ''The Big Book for Peace'' (co-editor) –

Jane Addams Children's Book Award The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is given annually to a children's book published the preceding year that advances the causes of peace and social equality. The awards have been presented annually since 1953. They were previously given joint ...

* American Jewish Library Award

References

External links

Interview with Marilyn Sachs
at the Children's Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota, ''All About Kids! TV Series'' #124 (1992) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sachs, Marilyn 1927 births 2016 deaths American children's writers Hunter College alumni Columbia University School of Library Service alumni Novelists from New York (state) Writers from San Francisco Jewish American novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American Jews