MITCHELL, Marianne 1947- (Marianne Olson)

PERSONAL:

Born June 7, 1947, in Phoenix, AZ; married James C. Mitchell (a journalist and writer). Education: University of Redlands, B.A., 1968; University of Louisville, M.A., 1988.

ADDRESSES:

Home—P.O. Box 65618, Tucson, AZ 85728. E-mail—mariannemitchell@earthlink.net.

CAREER:

Bilingual elementary education teacher, Peoria, AZ, 1978-82; University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, lecturer in Spanish, 1985-90.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, International Reading Association, National League of American PEN Women, Sisters in Crime.

AWARDS, HONORS: Highlights for Children fiction contest, first place, 1998; Storyteller World Award, 2002, for Joe Cinders; Joe Cinders and Gullywasher Gulch named Southwest Books of the Year, Tuscon-Pima Library, 2002; Bank Street College Best Books of the Year citation, and Storytelling World Award Honor Book, both 2003, both for Joe Cinders.

WRITINGS:

Maya Moon/Doña Luna, illustrated by John Martinez Z., Sundance Publishing (Littleton, MA), 1995.

Say It in Spanish!: Language and Activities for the Elementary Classroom (for adults), Teacher Ideas Press (Portsmouth, NH), 1997.

Coo, Coo, Caroo, illustrated by Marilyn Henry, Richard C. Owen (Katonah, NY), 1997.

(As Marianne Olson) Over the Waves, Rafter Five Press (Tucson, AZ), 1999.

Gullywasher Gulch, illustrated by Normand Chartier, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 2002.

Joe Cinders, illustrated by Bryan Langdo, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2002.

Finding Zola, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 2003.

Contributor of articles to magazines, including Guide, Jack and Jill, New Moon, Pockets, and Highlights for Children. Several of her stories have been printed in anthologies, including Stories from Highlights. Translator of writings from Spanish to English.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Firebug, for Boyds Mills Press; research into an historical mystery set in Colorado in the late 1800s.

SIDELIGHTS:

Marianne Mitchell's books express her heritage—both Western U.S. and European—and her desire to entertain children. Born and raised on a ranch in Phoenix, Arizona, Mitchell earned her teaching credentials in bilingual Spanish/English education. As she told CA, "Professional writing evolved out of my years as a teacher. Teachers are always making up activities, skits, and stories for their students. So one day I decided to turn those efforts into fiction writing for children." Her first story appeared in Guide magazine in 1992, and since then more than eighty of her short works have been published in children's magazines. She became a frequent contributor to Highlights for Children and author of that magazine's regular feature "The Bear Family." "I write all kinds of things for Highlights, from rebus stories for beginning readers to adventure stories for older readers," she told Julia Durango in a By the Book interview. Writing for magazines, Mitchell pointed out, might be easier due to the variety of pieces possible to sell. "However, just because a story is shorter than a book doesn't mean it's easy to write."

Mitchell's early book-length works, Say It in Spanish!: Language and Activities for the Elementary Classroom and the early reader Coo, Coo, Caroo, were also inspired by her teaching activities. She wrote the bilingual Maya Moon/Doña Luna because she wanted to make sure this Hispanic tale was not lost. Even after becoming published, Mitchell did not want to cloister herself at home. She enjoys visiting libraries and schools and makes talking with children a regular part of her routine. "My favorite part of being an author is going to schools to share my love of reading and writing with the students. It keeps me in touch with their interests and enthusiasm," she wrote at the Boyds Mills Press Web site.

Like many authors, Mitchell had a family story that she wanted to share with readers. Her grandmother immigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1880, and in 1914, when the woman decided to visit her homeland, she found it difficult and dangerous to return to America because of World War I. Although Mitchell's grandmother died when Mitchell was only four years old, as a girl she had heard this family story and wanted to know more. Conversations with her mother and other genealogical research resulted in the historical novel Over the Waves, based on the incident. When asked about the impetus to record the tale, Mitchell told Durango, "I think that it's really important to preserve family stories." When doing school visits and other talks, Mitchell encourages children "to seek out their own family stories and write them down."

Living in the American Southwest has also influenced Mitchell's writing, as she explained to Durango: "Growing up in Arizona has taught me the 'lingo' of the West, cowboy talk. This helped me a lot with word choice and voice when I wrote the stories." The author's Western-influenced works include the picture books "Joe Cinders," a Western retelling of the Cinderella story featuring a male protagonist, and Gullywasher Gulch, a tale that is also a nod to Mitchell's father, who, she added, "was always saving stuff for 'some rainy day.'" In Gullywasher Gulch, Eb Overall, who lives in a shack above the town of Dry Gulch, is a gold prospector and packrat who has for years buried things all around his home. Though the townsfolk often chide him for "saving things for a rainy day," in the end, when a sudden downpour washes out the town, they are thankful for Eb's eccentricities and generosity, for he donates lumber and a stash of gold nuggets to rebuild the town. Ruth Semrau of School Library Journal found Gullywasher Gulch to be a "facile story," while a Kirkus Reviews contributor described the tale as "swell" and Eb as a "shining example" of a generous soul.

Also published in 2002 was the award-winning Joe Cinders, in which the stepbrother Joe does all the work on the ranch while his three mean stepbrothers laze around calling him a step-skunk. When he and the brothers are invited to the fall fiesta at the ranch of the rich and beautiful Rosalinda, Joe is stuck watching over the herd of cattle. Much to his surprise, a mysterious stranger in a sombrero and serape arrives and changes the situation. In new clothes and red cowboy boots, Joe is on his way to the fiesta in a new red pickup truck. Soon he arrives just in time to rescue Rosalinda from a bull on the loose, and she falls in love with him. But true to form, Joe must leave before midnight and during the fireworks loses a red boot in a prairie dog hole. According to a Kirkus Reviews critic, readers will delight in these "marvelously funny details, Western words, and classic fairy tale base." Ruth Semrau also predicted in School Library Journal that "younger readers …will enjoy noting the similarities and differences" between this Westernized version and the fairy tale classic.

As a child, Mitchell was an avid mystery reader who "grew up on Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, and Edgar Allan Poe," she told CA. As an adult, she learned to love the mysteries of Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, Tony Hillerman, and Wendelin Van Draanen, so it seemed natural for Mitchell to eventually write a mystery novel of her own, Finding Zola. Handicapped after an automobile accident that also killed her father, thirteen-year-old Crystal tries to come to grips with his death as well as with her own now-limited physical abilities. Crystal and her mother are staying at the home of Grandmother Emilia, who has recently passed away. Unexpectedly, Crystal's mother, an artist, is called away to an art exhibit in another town, and Crystal is left in the supervision of her grandmother's friend Zola. But when Zola goes missing, it is up to Crystal to find the answers to a host of baffling questions. For characters and plot, Finding Zola earned a good review from Debbie Stewart, who wrote in School Library Journal that Crystal's dreams and memories of the deceased are "well handled and evoke sympathy," and that the "pacing is fast enough to entertain reluctant readers." Although a Kirkus Reviews contributor called the novel "run-of-the-mill mystery writing for fans of the simple solution," the critic appreciated Mitchell's integration of the interior and exterior action. Writing in Booklist, critic Ellen Mandel found Crystal a sympathetic character, remarking that "her adventures will entertain as they heighten awareness of the physical and emotional challenges of the disabled."

Sharing her thoughts about writing with CA, Mitchell offered these words of wisdom: "My advice to aspiring writers, children and adults, is to read, read, read. How-to books are fine for nuts and bolts, but nothing beats reading how other authors handled descriptions, plot, dialogue, and characters."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2002, Connie Fletcher, review of Joe Cinders, p. 408; May 15, 2003, Ellen Mandel, review of Finding Zola, p. 1661.

Daily Times (Ottawa, IL), September 24, 2002, Julia Durango, "Hot Diggety Dog! Two New Books from Marianne Mitchell."

Horn Book Guide, spring, 2003, review of Joe Cinders.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of Joe Cinders, p. 1315; September 15, 2002, review of Gullywasher Gulch, p. 1396; January 15, 2003, review of Finding Zola, p. 144.

School Library Journal, September, 2001, review of Coo, Coo, Caroo, p. S62; November, 2002, Ruth Semrau, review of Gullywasher Gulch, p. 132; December, 2002, Ruth Semrau, review of Joe Cinders, p. 102; February, 2003, Debbie Stewart, review of Finding Zola, p. 146.

ONLINE

Boyds Mills Press Web site,http://www.boydsmillspress.com/ (October 27, 2003), "Authors and Illustrators: Marianne Mitchell."

Marianne Mitchell Home Page,http://www.mariannemitchell.net/ (July 2, 2003).