From Joan Thompson:
Good news. My two first books for intermediates have just been reissued. They are The Mudpack and Me and The Terrible Turnoff and Me. One deals humorously with young girls' unhealthy obsession with weight and the other is about the same character from the first book, Susan Hubbard, who gets into a TV-watching experiment.
I recently did some book signings, TV and speaking engagements (FL) and am glad to be back at my desk!
I am the author of eight published novels for intermediate and adult readers. I was born in the Boston area and have lived on the North Shore of Massachusetts for all of my adult life. I graduated from Colby College in Watervillle, Maine with a degree in French and a minor in English and Education. I am married and have two adult sons and four very young grandchildren living in the area. One of our sons has a great Red Sox website at http://www.yankeesredsox.com. He's a crazed Red Sox fan as am I.
I live on the ocean and one of the inspirations for my novels is the sea. Another is history. My novels for intermediate readers are humorous with a serious undertone. It has always been my goal to entertain while inspiring self-confidence in young people.
My historical novels use history as a background but not as a blueprint. I most enjoy creating believable characters, the kind you feel you know when you finish the books.
My adult novels were originally published by St. Martin's Press and republished by Ballantine Books and G.H. Hall Company in large print. My intermediate novels were originally printed by Pocketbooks, a division of Simon and Schuster, and Avon Books.
I am currently at work on a new novel.
From Publishers Weekly about Marblehead:
"Joan Thompson's pleasant novel of Boston and Marblehead at the turn of the century evokes a more leisurely time and a gentler way of life....Abigail, red-headed and vivacious is Boston born and bred. She is attracted to a rake, Burton Madison, and very nearly gets herself into a peck of trouble over him. Her parents ship her off to cousins in Marblehead for safety sake, and to give her a chance to come to her senses....A nicely nostalgic and satisfying romance."
From Publisher's Weekly about Lucy in the Wings:
"Thompson (The Mudpack and Me) introduces an unusually endearing heroine in this first novel of her Lucy Russell Centerstage trilogy. The eponymous Lucy offers a frank and frequently funny first-person account of her turbulent first months in eigth grade...... Thompson conveys the importance of maintaining one's perspective- and sense of humor-during relatively minor but seemingly overwhelming rough times." Ages 8-12.
