LaRochelle, David 1960–

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LaRochelle, David 1960–

Personal

Surname is pronounced La-row-shell; born October 26, 1960, in Minneapolis, MN; son of Roger (a welder and construction worker) and Ruth (Bonrud) LaRochelle. Education: St. Olaf College, B.A., 1983; University of Minnesota, B.S., 1984. Hobbies and other interests: Entering contests, orienteering, camping, travel, coaching and judging events for Odyssey of the Mind/Destination Imagination (a creative problem-solving program for children).

Addresses

Home—4791 Stewart Ave., White Bear Lake, MN 55110. E-mail—david@davidlarochelle.net.

Career

Teacher of fourth grade at a school in Coon Rapids, MN, 1984–88; freelance illustrator and writer, 1988–.

Awards, Honors

Parents' Choice Award for the book Prime Time Together … with Kids by Donna Erickson; Booklist Top-Ten First Novels for Youth and Editor's Choice designations, American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults designation, Sid Fleischman Humor Award, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age designation, all 2005, all for Absolutely, Positively Not; Minnesota Book Award, 2005, and New Hampshire Ladybug Picture-Book Award nomination and California Young Reader Medal nomination, both 2006, all for The Best Pet of All.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

A Christmas Guest, illustrated by Martin Skoro, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1988.

The Evening King, illustrated by Catherine Stock, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1993.

The Best Pet of All, illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama, Dut-ton (New York, NY), 2004.

Absolutely, Positively Not (young-adult novel), Arthur A. Levine (New York, NY), 2005.

The End, illustrated by Richard Egielski, Arthur A. Levine (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of stories, poems, puzzles, and illustrations to magazines, including Spider and Cricket.

SELF-ILLUSTRATED PUZZLE BOOKS

The Case of the Missing Lynx, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1995.

The Invisible Suit Case, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1995.

A Dog Gone Dilemma, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1996.

Trapped in Hill House!, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1996.

The Pirate's Yo-Ho-Hoax, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1997.

Detective Dave's Bummer Vacation, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1997.

Miss Taken's Identity, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1998.

Detective Dave: Space Case, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1998.

Detective Dave's Mad Mysteries, Price, Stern, Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 2006.

ILLUSTRATOR

Donna Erickson, Prime Time Together … with Kids, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1989.

Janet Greeson, reteller, The Stingy Baker, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1990.

Debbie Trafton O'Neal, Before and after Christmas: Activities and Ideas for Advent and Epiphany, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1991.

Donna Erickson, More Prime Time Activities with Kids, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.

Debbie Trafton O'Neal, Before and after Easter: Activities and Ideas for Lent to Pentecost, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

Jill Westburg McNamara, My Mom Is Dying: A Child's Diary, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

Donna Erickson, Donna Erickson's Rainy Day Fun Book, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

Donna Erickson, Donna Erickson's Year-Round Holiday Fun Book, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

Donna Erickson, Donna Erickson's Great Outdoors Fun Book, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1997.

Donna Erickson, Donna Erickson's Travel Fun Book, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1997.

Donna Erickson, Donna's Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.

Joyce Bumgardner, The New My Writing Book, Froggie Press, 1998.

Barbara Maitland, The Bookstore Valentine, Dutton (New York, NY), 2002.

Illustrator of "Donna's Day," a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column by Donna Erickson.

Sidelights

David LaRochelle began his career as an author and illustrator of puzzle and picture books for young children, but has more recently moved into young-adult fiction with Absolutely, Positively Not. In this award-winning 2005 novel readers meet Steven Denarski, who realizes that, at age sixteen, he is very different from other boys his age. For one thing, he keeps his room too clean; for another, he is not very interested in sports. Most importantly, he really is not attracted to girls as anything more than friends. Determined to prove to everyone that he is not gay, Steven takes drastic steps, going on a whirlwind dating spree and even trying to hang out with the school jocks. Ultimately, a date with a sexually aggressive female classmate and the feelings sparked by a new teacher cause Steve to recognize and come to terms with his own homosexuality in what Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman deemed a "touching, sometimes hilarious coming-out story." Featuring what Rochman described as "characters [that] are drawn with surprising depth," Absolutely, Positively Not was cited by Hillias J. Martin in School Library Journal as an "eye-opening and accurate portrayal of … coming out [that] will ring optimistically true for many teens."

On the picture-book front, LaRochelle's The Best Pet of All was praised by a Kirkus Reviews writer for its "sly touches of humor" in telling the story of a boy who manages to maneuver his mom into getting a pet dog by bringing home a troublesome dragon first. "LaRochelle's prose is simple, repetitive, and wonderfully understated," noted Karin Snelson in Booklist, praising the "retro-looking" art by Hanako Wakiyama and dubbing the book "a happy wag of the kid-wants-dog tale." Citing the "unfailing optimism" of the young boy at the center of LaRochelle's story, School Library Journal contributor Jane Barrer praised the book's amusing subtext, adding that the author "captures the essence of the relationship between mother and son with dry humor."

As an illustrator working primarily in pen and ink, the multi-talented LaRochelle has also created art for a number of writers, among them Barbara Maitland, Debbie Trafton O'Neal, and Janet Greeson. Most of his illustration projects have been collaborations with television host and writer Donna Erickson, whose family-friendly syndicated weekly column "Donna's Day" has also sparked the picture-book titles Prime Time Together … with Kids and Donna Erickson's Travel Fun Book. Praising LaRochelle's artwork for Maitland's beginning chapter book The Bookstore Valentine, Mary Ann Carich noted in School Library Journal that he "adds just the right note of whimsy" with his "bright, cheerful, cleverly detailed cartoon drawings."

LaRochelle once told SATA: "I love children's books. Few things give me greater joy than reading a good children's book. Maybe I haven't completely grown up because I still prefer children's books to books for adults.

"Some of my favorite authors when I was growing up were E.L. Konigsburg, Edward Eager, E. Nesbit, and C.S. Lewis. Their stories were an important part of my life. That is one of the magical things about books: an author can write a story that will move, inspire, or entertain people s/he has never met. I hope that someday I will be able to create books that will be important to other readers."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 1993, p. 699; June 1, 2004, Karin Snelson, review of The Best Pet of All, p. 1731; July, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of Absolutely, Positively Not, p. 1923.

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2002, review of The Bookstore Valentine, p. 1698; April 15, 2004, review of The Best Pet of All, p. 396; June 1, 2005, review of Absolutely, Positively Not, p. 639.

Kliatt, July, 2005, Janis Flint-Ferguson, review of Absolutely, Positively Not, p. 12.

Publishers Weekly, November 11, 1988, p. 55; July 12, 2004, review of The Best Pet of All, p. 63.

School Library Journal, July, 1990, p. 60; November, 1993, p. 85; December, 2002, review of The Bookstore Valentine, p. 102; July, 2004, Jane Barrer, review of The Best Pet of All, p. 80; September, 2005, Hillias J. Martin, review of Absolutely, Positively Not, p. 206.