GRUNWELL, Jeanne Marie 1971-

PERSONAL: Born April 26, 1971, in Fort Ord, CA; daughter of Harry Dutton (a soldier) and Marie Immaculata (a budget oversight employee; maiden name, Iacono) Grunwell; married James Michael Ford (a teacher), July, 2004. Education: Johns Hopkins University, B.A., 1992; Vermont College of Norwich University, M.F.A., 2001. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—Ellicot City, MD. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Houghton Mifflin, 8th Fl., 222 Berkeley St., Boston, MA 02116.

CAREER: Days of Our Lives, NBC-TV, writer, 1999—.

MEMBER: Writers Guild of America West, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Mystery Writers of America.

WRITINGS:

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: Daughter of America, Pauline Books and Media (Boston, MA), 1999.

Mind Games, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Jeanne Marie Grunwell, a staff writer for the Days of Our Lives television soap opera, is also the author of Mind Games, a book based, in part, on the author's memories of her eighth-grade science fair project on ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception). In Mind Games, members of the seventh-grade Mad Science Club at Clearview Middle School decide to do an experiment on ESP. The six students include a genius, a Russian immigrant, a pair of identical twins (one an honor roll student, and the other slightly brain-damaged), a Korean girl, and a boy whose mother has just died.

The project involves testing the group's ESP skills on lottery tickets. The group wins five hundred dollars in the process, as well as top honors in the science fair. The book is written as short pieces, each from the point of view of the different characters. Each student is also dealing with personal issues, and the project helps them to deal with their own problems, as well as to understand each other a little better.

Jennifer M. Brabander, writing in Horn Book, commented, "This novel about newly opened minds may very well prove mind-opening." School Library Journal's Barbara Auerbach called the book "a fast-paced and fascinating read," while a Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that the "story flies by, leaving readers eager for more."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2003, Todd Morning, review of MindGames, p. 1661.

Horn Book, May-June, 2003, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Mind Games, p. 345.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2003, review of MindGames, p. 384.

Kliatt, July, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of MindGames, p. 12.

Publishers Weekly, April 28, 2003, review of MindGames, p. 71.

School Library Journal, May, 2003, Barbara Auerbach, review of Mind Games, p. 152.