Ayres, Katherine 1947–

Personal

Born October 15, 1947, in Columbus, OH; daughter of Ray and Betty Kent; married; children: one son, two daughters. Education: College of Wooster, B.A., 1969; Tufts University, M.A., 1974. Hobbies and other interests: Writing and literature, the outdoors, gardening.

Addresses

Home—Pittsburgh, PA. Office—Graduate Writing Programs, Chatham University, Woodland Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15232. E-mail—kayres@chatham.edu.

Career

Author and educator. Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA, lecturer in English and writing, 1997—, coordinator of Writing for Children and Adolescents Program, and children's editor of Fourth River. Worked as a teacher of emotionally disturbed children, of preschoolers, and an elementary school principal. Scholar-in-residence, John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA; writer-in-residence, lecturer, and presenter at writers' and teachers' conferences.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Family Tree, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1996.

North by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Voices at Whisper Bend, Pleasant Company Publications (Middleton, WI), 1999.

Under Copp's Hill, Pleasant Company Publications (Middleton, WI), 1999.

Silver Dollar Girl, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2000.

Stealing South: A Story of the Underground Railroad, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2001.

A Long Way, illustrated by Tricia Tusa, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2003.

Macaroni Boy, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Matthew's Truck, illustrated by Hideko Takahashi, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2005.

Up, Down, and Around, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2007.

Contributor of stories to Cricket, Spider, Ladybug, and Pockets. Contributor of essays to Children's Writer. Contributor of poetry to Pittsburgh Post Gazette and to anthology Along These Rivers.

Adaptations

Macaroni Boy was adapted as a stage musical and produced by Stage Right in western PA in 2008.

Sidelights

Katherine Ayres has published a number of highly regarded picture books for young readers, including Matthew's Truck and Up, Down, and Around, as well as works of historical fiction for middle graders such as Macaroni Boy. Several of Ayres' books are set in Ohio, her home state, as well as in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she now serves as a lecturer in English and writing at Chatham University. Ayres' picture book Up, Down, and Around was selected as the Pennsylvania One Book for 2008, allowing her to tour the state as a childhood literacy advocate. Many of her novels have been nominated for state readers' choice awards and are used extensively in elementary and middle-school classrooms.

Ayres was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1947. As a youngster, she developed an active imagination, often staying up past her bedtime to create her own tales. "I kept myself awake by making up stories and TV shows in my mind," Ayres recalled on the Chatham University Web site. "So my imagination got a lot of practice and today, years later, I still find myself making up stories at night." As she grew older, Ayres became an avid reader and found herself drawn to the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder as well as the popular "Nancy Drew" novel series. "Maybe it's not a surprise that now I write mostly historical adventures and mysteries," she remarked.

Ayres published her first title, Family Tree, in 1996. The novel concerns Tyler Stoudt, a sixth grader who is assigned to write an essay about her ancestors. During her research, Tyler learns that her widower father, Jakob, is Amish, and that he was shunned by his own people when he married Tyler's mother. According to a critic in Publishers Weekly, the author "delivers an intriguing plot and deftly paints a self-reliant heroine on a mission to find the truth."

Set in 1851, North by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad centers on Lucinda Spenser, a sixteen year old who gives shelter to escaped slaves crossing her family's Ohio farm. Booklist contributor GraceAnne A. DeCandido called North by Night "an absorbing tale," and a Publishers Weekly reviewer stated that Lucinda's "dramatic self-actualization is at least as important as the period setting." In a sequel, Stealing South: A Story of the Underground Railroad, Lucy's brother Will promises to help rescue two slaves from a Kentucky plantation. The work "combines historical research and moral reflection with action," Carolyn Phelan remarked in Booklist.

A spunky twelve year old leaves the comforts of her Pittsburgh home to search for her father, a silver miner, in Silver Dollar Girl. Disguising herself as a boy, Valentine Harper heads west to Aspen, Colorado, where she works in a local café while avoiding a Pinkerton detective. The heroine's "courageous journey of self-awareness and self-reliance is one readers will enjoy sharing," Janet Gillen noted in a School Library Journal review of the historical novel. Set during the Great Depression, Macaroni Boy follows Mike Costa, a sixth grader who empties rat traps at Costa Brothers Fine Foods, his family's business in Pittsburgh's warehouse district. After two hoboes die and Mike's grandfather falls violently ill, the young man begins to investigate the cause of the health issues. According to School Library Journal contributor Steven Engelfried, Mike's "actions and his perceptions give readers an involving and informative kid's-eye look at several aspects of city life in the 1930s."

In A Long Way, Ayres's first picture book, a young girl delivers a present to her grandmother, pretending to travel by car, boat, airplane, and subway to do so. The story was described as "a clever synergy of art and text, and an invigorating romp into the realm of childhood play" by a Publishers Weekly critic. Up, Down, and Around, a tale told in verse, concerns two children who plant and harvest a bountiful vegetable garden. The author's "rhyming text is simple, but the words are well chosen," wrote School Library Journal reviewer Mary Hazelton. As Phelan further noted, Ayres's "short verses create a quick pace and an upbeat tempo throughout."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of Family Tree, p. 585; October 1, 1998, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of North by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad, p. 318; November 15, 2000, Kay Weisman, review of Silver Dollar Girl, p. 640; April 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of Stealing South: A Story of the Underground Railroad, p. 1482; January 1, 2003, Todd Morning, review of Macaroni Boy, p. 887; June 1, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of A Long Way, p. 1782; March 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Matthew's Truck, p. 1201; March 15, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of Up, Down, and Around, p. 50.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of Macaroni Boy, p. 1845; April 15, 2003, review of A Long Way, p. 603; April 1, 2007, review of Up, Down, and Around.

Kliatt, July, 1998, Sunnie Grant, review of North by Night; May, 2001, Claire Rosser, review of Stealing South.

New York Times Book Review, December 20, 1998, Susan Bolotin, review of North by Night.

Publishers Weekly, November 18, 1996, review of Family Tree, p. 76; October 19, 1998, review of North by Night, p. 81; January 20, 2003, review of Macaroni Boy, p. 82; March 17, 2003, review of A Long Way, p. 75.

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School Library Journal, November, 2000, Janet Gillen, review of Silver Dollar Girl, p. 150; March, 2001, Kristen Oravec, review of Under Copp's Hill, p. 245; June, 2001, Lisa Prolman, review of Stealing South, p. 142; August, 2001, Diane Balodis, review of Family Tree, p. 88; February, 2003, Steven Engelfried, review of Macaroni Boy, p. 140; May, 2003, Dona Ratterree, review of A Long Way, p. 108; July, 2005, Bina Williams, review of Matthew's Truck, p. 64; Mary Hazelton, review of Up, Down, and Around, p. 84.

ONLINE

Chatham University Web site,http://www.chatham.edu/ (February 1, 1998), "Kathy Ayres."