Derby, Pat 1942–

Personal

Born 1942.

Addresses

Home—San Leandro, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 19 Union Square W., New York, NY 10003.

Career

Writer.

Writings

Visiting Miss Pierce, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1986.

Goodbye Emily, Hello, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1989.

Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1994.

Away to the Goldfields!, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2004.

Sidelights

Pat Derby is a writer for young adults who focuses on family drama. In her first novel, Visiting Miss Pierce, adopted teen Barry volunteers to visit the elderly Miss Pierce at a local nursing home as part of a service project required of all high-school freshmen. The teen is not enthusiastic about the meetings, especially when Miss Pierce confuses him with someone she once knew named Willie. When Barry becomes more comfortable around his new elderly friend and starts to listen to her reminiscences with "Willie," he realizes that Miss Pierce believes him to be her brother. Barry finds himself identifying with Willie, and eventually comes to value both his visits with Miss Pierce and his own family life.

Goodbye Emily, Hello focuses on a friendship between two girls, one of whom bullies the other, while Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me tells the story of

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

teenager Andy, whose family is subjected to unusual strains after his grandmother comes to stay while her own home is under renovation. Although living with the demanding older woman soon prompts Andy's own mom to take a job to get out of the house, Andy enjoys his grandmother's presence. He also supports her decision to become engaged to a charming man she met during a car accident, and when Andy's father opposes the romance the teen is forced to choose sides. "Derby's nicely captured the tension and the frenzy of a big and busy household," wrote Stephanie Zvirin in a Booklist review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, while Ellen Fader, writing for Horn Book, praised the novel's well-developed protagonists, noting that "Derby is deft at creating characters that are both distinct and believable."

Away to the Goldfields!, the author's first foray into historical fiction, is set in 1848. The novel relates the story of Molly and her older brother as the siblings try to make good on their family's small farm after their father leaves to go hunt for gold in California. When her father sends for her brother to join him out west, but neglects to send for her, Molly decides to make the trip anyway. As they travel west in search of their father, Molly learns a lot about who she is and who she wants to become.

Gillian Engberg, writing in Booklist, found Away to the Goldfields! to be "an intriguing historical adventure, peopled with colorful supporting characters and a passionately independent young heroine." Cynthia M. Sturgis, writing for School Library Journal, held a similar view, calling Molly "an attractive heroine" and deeming Derby's novel "an engrossing adventure."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 1342; November 1, 2004, Gillian Engberg, review of Away to the Goldfields!, p. 482.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September, 1986, review of Visiting Miss Pierce, p. 5; October, 1989, review of Goodbye Emily, Hello, p. 31; July, 1994, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 354.

Emergency Librarian, January, 1990, review of Visiting Miss Pierce, p. 61.

Horn Book, January-February, 1990, Ethel R. Twichell, review of Goodbye Emily, Hello, p. 62; May-June, 1994, Ellen Fader, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 325.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2004, review of Away to the Goldfields!, p. 959.

Publishers Weekly, July 25, 1986, Diane Roback, review of Visiting Miss Pierce, p. 193; June 30, 1989, review of Goodbye Emily, Hello, p. 108; January 3, 1994, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 82; March 17, 1997, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 85.

School Library Journal, August, 1986, David Thomson Gale, review of Visiting Miss Pierce, p. 99; August, 1989, review of Goodbye Emily, Hello, p. 152; November, 1994, Bonnie L. Raasch, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 118; January, 1998, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 42; November, 2004, Cynthia M. Sturgis, review of Away to the Goldfields!, p. 142.

Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1986, review of Visiting Miss Pierce, p. 214; December, 1989, review of Goodbye Emily, Hello, p. 274; April, 1994, review of Grams, Her Boyfriend, My Family, and Me, p. 24.