From Publishers Weekly
Joan Lowery Nixon, the four-time Edgar winner, reveals the life behind the craft in her memoir The Making of a Writer. An epilogue sharing the author's "Top Ten Writing Tips" encourages young hopefuls.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8 In this entertaining book, Nixon narrates the story of her life from the time she was a baby living in a white stucco duplex that her family shared with her grandparents until she became a journalism major at the University of Southern California and sold her first piece of writing. As the narrative moves forward in chronological fashion, Nixon whispers in the ear of readers all of the important tricks of the trade that she has learned: "Read!- Write what you know- Show, don't tell- Put yourself in other people's shoes," and so forth. Most chapters are organized around one of her writing lessons. The book contains a great deal of dialogue that makes it a lively read, but these clearly imaginary interchanges do compromise the book's status as a work of nonfiction. However, this quibble will be of little consequence to those who are interested in the life of this accomplished author or to those who will value the book for its clear and concise advice to writers. -Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-8. Nixon, with more than 100 books to her credit, answers her many correspondents who ask about her craft. Yet unlike some writers whose books for aspiring authors list the mechanics of writing, Nixon tucks her tips into a memoir that stands alone as a piece of literature. Born in California, raised in a home with her parents and her grandparents, Nixon seems to have had an idyllic childhood, mostly spent in the years before World War II. Although the short chapters seemingly chronicle incidents from her youth--staying up at night listening to the radio, writing letters and poems to the boys fighting overseas--each one holds a nugget of information about writing, characterization, motivation, plotting the action, and more. This will be of tremendous value to adults who teach writing to children, but it will also appeal to Nixon's legion of fans, including those who have no desire to write a word of their own; it's a delightful look back at a time and a life. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
?This will be of tremendous value to adults who teach writing to children, but it will also appeal to Nixon?s legion of fans. . . . A delightful look back at a time and a life.??Booklist
?Clear and concise advice to writers.??School Library Journal
Making of a Writer ANNOTATION
The author recalls events from her childhood that contributed to her development as a writer.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Many of Joan Lowery Nixon’s readers have written to her to ask how they, too, can become published writers someday. This memoir, including anecdotes and advice, is her answer to them. From her first publication at age ten–a poem entitled “Springtime” in a children’s magazine–to her graduation from Hollywood High during World War II, Joan Lowery Nixon shares the incidents from her childhood that helped her to grow and develop as a writer. Listening to her favorite serial programs on the radio, performing puppet shows at orphanages and hospitals, and writing love poems for her high school classmates to send to soldiers overseas all planted the seeds from which a prolific professional career was born.
Both informative and entertaining, this is a charming look at one writer’s beginnings.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Joan Lowery Nixon, the four-time Edgar winner, reveals the life behind the craft in her memoir The Making of a Writer. An epilogue sharing the author's "Top Ten Writing Tips" encourages young hopefuls. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA - Cynthia Gueswel
Told in short chapters, this book is a welcome answer to the oft-asked question, "How can I become a published writer someday?" and Nixon is just the person to provide the answer, having penned more than one hundred books for young readers, including many award-winners. Each chapter recounts an anecdote from the author's life, then ties it into a lesson she learned about writing. The chapters trace her life from childhood through her teenage years, closing with her concise, helpful "Top Ten Writing Tricks." Nixon employs many of the same writing tools in this memoir as she does in her mystery novels. Dialogue, emotions, characterization, attention-grabbing beginnings, and strong chapter endings keep a reader's interest. Her writing is clear and interesting, admirably blending her personal history, that of the nation, life lessons, and writing tips. Numerous black-and-white captioned photos enhance the text. Young adults who have read any Nixon books will appreciate the insights she offers into her own life as well as the development of her signature style. Buy several copies of this book for youth-serving libraries. It will be a popular choice for young readers, and teachers will find it an extremely useful tool. Photos. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, Delacorte, 106p,
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8 In this entertaining book, Nixon narrates the story of her life from the time she was a baby living in a white stucco duplex that her family shared with her grandparents until she became a journalism major at the University of Southern California and sold her first piece of writing. As the narrative moves forward in chronological fashion, Nixon whispers in the ear of readers all of the important tricks of the trade that she has learned: "Read!- Write what you know- Show, don't tell- Put yourself in other people's shoes," and so forth. Most chapters are organized around one of her writing lessons. The book contains a great deal of dialogue that makes it a lively read, but these clearly imaginary interchanges do compromise the book's status as a work of nonfiction. However, this quibble will be of little consequence to those who are interested in the life of this accomplished author or to those who will value the book for its clear and concise advice to writers. -Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Veteran author Nixon (Gus and Gertie and the Missing Pearls, 2001, etc.) offers a lighthearted biography, with each chapter connected to something she's loved or learned about writing. She grew up in Los Angeles in a duplex occupied by her grandparents as well as her own parents and siblings, and evokes an idyllic childhood. She loved words from a very early age, recounting her mother's story that before she could even read or write, she would come to her mother and say, "I have a poem, Mama. Write it down." She loved hearing family stories and radio dramas, learning pacing and dialogue, and did puppet shows for neighborhood children using her mother's scripts and the portable stage built by her father. In high school in the '40s, she and her friends wrote many letters to servicemen in the war, most of them barely older than she was. She tells, with exquisite timing, how she got her first payment for something she wrote, and how it felt. Young readers (and would-be writers) might be most interested in the last chapter, her Top Ten Tips for Writers, which includes such basic advice as "Read!"; "Show, don't tell"; and "Trust your characters." It's a bit preachy in spots, and even her large fan base might not be completely engaged, but it is a nicely focused take on something about the author. (Biography. 10-12)
Art & Photography
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