Andrea Cheng (September 19, 1957 – December 26, 2015) was a Hungarian-American author of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

and poet, best known for her Anna Wang Series of

middle grade Middle grade fiction is fiction intended for children between the ages of 8 and 12. While these books are sometimes grouped together with books for other age bands and called collectively "children's books", middle grade is distinct from, and is ...

novels and ''Shanghai Messenger''. She has written over 25 books, spanning genres like Picture books,

young adult 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 ...

Chapter book A chapter book is a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10. Unlike picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told pri ...

s, non-fiction, and poetry.

Personal life

Cheng was born in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

, Texas. She was raised in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

, Ohio, as the child of Hungarian immigrant parents who originally came from Australia and emigrated in 1954. Cheng was raised in a predominantly African-American neighborhood and was the youngest of three siblings. She grew up speaking both English and Hungarian. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Teaching English as a Second language from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

in 1979. After graduation, she apprenticed to become a bookbinder and studied French and taught English in Switzerland. After she returned from Switzerland, she studied at Cornell University to receive her master's degree in Linguistics. In addition to writing books, she taught English as a Second Language as well as Children's Literature at

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (CSTCC or Cincinnati State) is a public technical and community college in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. History Chartered by the Ohio Board of Regents in ...

Death

Cheng died of breast cancer on December 26, 2015, at the age of 58, after a long illness. Two of her manuscripts were published posthumously.

Works

Picture books

* ''Grandfather Counts'' (Lee & Low Books, 2000) * ''When the Bees Fly Hom''e, illustrated by Joline McFadden (Tilbury House Publishers, 2002) * ''Anna the Bookbinder'', illustrated by

Ted Rand Ted Rand (1916-2005) was an illustrator who illustrated children's novels in his 60s, 70s, and 80s. He was born in 1916 on Mercer Island, WA. He started drawing early in his youth, traveled the world, and did portraits and advertising illustrations. ...

(Walker Children's, 2003) * ''Goldfish and Chrysanthemums'' (Lee & Low Books, 2003) * ''Shanghai Messenger'', illustrated by Ed Young (Lee & Low Books, 2005) * ''The Lemon Sisters'', illustrated by Tatiana Mai-Wyss (Putnam, 2006) * ''Tire Mountain'', illustrated by Ken Condon (Boyds Mills Press, 2007) * ''Only One Year'', co-authored with Alma Ada, illustrated by Nicole Wong (Lee & Low Books, 2007) * Bees in the City, illustrated by Sarah McMenemy (Tilbury House Publishers, 2017)

Young adult

* ''Marika'' (Scholastic, 2004) * The Bear Makers (Front Street, Incorporated, 2008) * ''Brushing Mom's Hair,'' illustrated by Nicole Wong (Wordsong, 2009)

Chapter books

* Only One Year, illustrated by Nicole Wong (Lee & Low Books, 2010)

Middle grade

* ''The Key Collection'', illustrated by Yangsook Choi (Henry Holt, 2003) * ''Honeysuckle House'' (Boyd Mills Press, 2004) * ''The Lace Dowry'' (Front Street, Incorporated, 2005) * ''Eclipse'' (Front Street, Incorporated, 2006) * ''Where the Steps Were'' (Wordsong, 2008) * ''Where Do You Stay?'' (Boyd Mills Press, 2011) * ''Anna Wang Series'' *# ''The Year of the Garden,'' illustrated by

Patrice Barton Patrice Barton is an American illustrator of children’s literature. She has created the art for more than 20 books in the picture book and chapter book formats. Barton earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art at the University of Texas at ...

(HMH, 2017) *# ''The Year of the Book'', illustrated by Abigail Halpin (HMH, 2012) *# ''The Year of the Baby'', illustrated by

(HMH, 2013) *# ''The Year of the Fortune Cookie'', illustrated by

(HMH, 2014) *# ''The Year of the Three Sisters,'' illustrated by

(HMH, 2015) * ''Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet'' (Lee & Low Books, 2012)

Non-fiction

* ''Lets Make a Present: Easy to Make Gifts for Friends and Relatives of All Ages'' (Marquis Who's Who, 1991)

Awards

Won

* 2005–2006 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature for ''Shanghai Messenger''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Andrea 1957 births 2015 deaths Women writers of young adult literature Cornell University alumni Deaths from breast cancer Writers from El Paso, Texas Writers from Cincinnati 21st-century Hungarian women writers 21st-century Hungarian poets