Luke, Pauline (Pauline R. Luke)

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Luke, Pauline (Pauline R. Luke)

PERSONAL:

Born in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia; married; children: two sons. Education: Monash University, B.A.; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Dip. Arts.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Heathmont, Victoria, Australia. E-mail—pjluke@bigpond.net.au.

CAREER:

Author and freelance editor. May Gibbs Literature Trust creative-writing residency.

MEMBER:

Australian Society of Authors, Varuna Alumni.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Varuna/Writers' House fellowship; Family Therapists' Association Award for Best Book for Older Readers for Amber Pash on Pink.

WRITINGS:

Money-Saving Travel Tips and Hundreds of Helpful Hints, Brogla Publishing (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1995.

Keep the Words Coming: The Writers' Guide to Life, Brogla Publishing (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1995.

A Bag of Laughs for Kids, Brogla Publishing (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 2000.

A Sack of Giggles, Brogla Publishing (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 2002.

I Can't Cook Book, Brogla Publishing (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 2003.

Amber Pash on Pink (young adult novel), University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2004.

Bronco, Fi, Maddie, and Me, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Australian editor and children's book author Pauline Luke has published numerous books, among them the award-winning teen novel Amber Pash on Pink. In a revealing compilation of journal entries, e-mails, recipes, and poems, Luke presents readers with a glimpse into the life of fourteen-year-old Rebecca. When not being annoyed by the irritating brother she calls "Frog Face," Rebecca spends time with her boy-obsessed best friend, Amber. While navigating the typical teen issues of boys, parents, and peer pressure, Rebecca must also deal with the death of her beloved grandmother and the fall-out from both her divorced parents' decision to date new people. Calling Amber Pash on Pink a "quirky" novel and "easy read," Nicole Marcuccilli Mills added in her School Library Journal review that Luke's decision to utilize "the diary/e-mail format give it addition appeal."

Luke once described the process of writing Amber Pash on Pink: "Much of the literature for young adults I had looked at was rather bleak and dark which led me to decide that I wanted to write a book that dealt with the situations that many teenagers face—separation of parents, relationships with friends, falling in love for the first time, the death of a much-loved grandparent—in a way which recognized these difficulties, but still managed to present a positive view of life. By employing a range of different formats I was able to present a range of different emotions. The humor in the novel comes through the diary entries which relate the escapades of Rebecca's young brother and his dog, Basil. Her relationship with her best friend, Amber, unfolds through a series of e-mails, while poetry is generally used to express deep emotional feelings."