R.I.P. Jean S. Ferris, 76, in Oct. 2015 (YA novelist: "Love Among the Walnuts," 1998)

[leno...@yahoo.com]

She was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and lived her last decades in
San Diego. In the 1960s and 1970s, she was a clinical audiologist there.

http://www.jeanferris.com/bio.htm
(her site)

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=176510960

Excerpt:

...Jean published her first novel, Amen Moses Gardenia, in 1983 with the
famed publishing house of Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Her last novel, Thrice
Upon a Marigold, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012, just
two years after she was diagnosed with AML. Seven of her novels, including
Invincible Summer, Bad, and Once Upon a Marigold, won the prestigious
American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults award. She was
the recipient of countless other domestic and foreign awards, including
the Prix des Libraires Millepages from France She wrote her first novel
for young adults when her own children were in junior and senior high
school and she learned of a teen who tried to commit suicide. Jean
explained that she wanted to understand how a teen could decide, at
age fourteen with so many years ahead, that there would never, ever
again be anything worth living for. That was Amen Moses Gardenia. Since
then, with the exception of a three-part adventure series set during the
War of 1812, her work was focused exclusively on teens...

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/26/jean-ferris-penned-novels-for-young-adults-76/

Excerpts:

"She wrote about young love and, interestingly enough, leukemia
in 'Invincible Summer,' which was her first award-winning book," her
husband said. "Loneliness was the theme that occupied her for many years
in her writing. All her teens were lonely in one way or another."

"The stories are about issues, heavy issues that teens are dealing
with now," she said in an April 18, 1999, story published in the
Union-Tribune. "Kids today have a lot of problems, and they have less
help than they've often had in the past."

http://timesofsandiego.com/life/2015/11/15/san-diegos-jean-ferris-famed-novelist-mourned-by-childrens-book-society/
(another obit)

Excerpt:

"A celebration of life was set Jan. 19 in the Shiley Special Events Suite
on the ninth floor of the San Diego Central Library, the notice said."


http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/DignityMemorial/guestbook.aspx?n=jean-ferris&pid=176312109
(guestbook)

"The family of Jean Schwartz Ferris will be holding a private
memorial service. A larger celebration of life will take place in
January 2016."

http://www.jeanferris.com/my_works.htm
(book covers, synopses)

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3432800025.html
(booklist, awards and much more detail about her work)


Excerpt:

"National Book Award nomination, National Book Foundation, 1998, Best
Book for Young Adults, ALA, Quick Pick for Young Adults, ALA, and Best
Books for Young Adults citation, Young Adult Library Services Association
(YALSA), all 1999, all for Love among the Walnuts."


About "Love Among the Walnuts: or, How I Saved My Family from
Being Poisoned":

"Born and raised in isolation in a wealthy, eccentric family, Sandy is
shocked when he, his parents, and their servants become victims of a
vicious plot by his greedy uncles to incapacitate them and take their
money."

http://pajka.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-with-jean-ferris-author-of-of.html
(2007 interview with Ferris about "Of Sound Mind," a novel about a boy and his deaf family)

About that book:

"High school senior Theo is fluent in two languages: spoken English
and sign. His parents and brother, Jeremy, are deaf, but Theo can
hear, which has over the years cast him in the role of interpreter for
his family. Unfortunately, it's not a welcome duty, especially in the
case of his mother, Palma. She is a successful sculptor who, being
deeply suspicious of 'hearies,' expects Theo to act as her business
manager. And Jeremy relies on Theo for company and homework help.
It's become especially frustrating lately because Theo has met a
fascinating new girl at school, Ivy, with whom he wants to spend as
much time as possible. Theo's father, Thomas, is the only one who has
never burdened him, but that changes when Thomas has a stroke. Palma,
frightened and self-absorbed, cannot bring herself to nurse her
husband, leaving Theo with the full burden to bear. But with the help
of Ivy and some of her friends, Theo is finally able to change his
family's dynamics and find time to plan his future."



http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/86265.Jean_Ferris
(reviews)

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/search/?q=Jean%20Ferris;t=author
(Kirkus reviews)

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#tbm=vid&q=jean+ferris+book
(videos about her books)


WRITINGS:

Amen, Moses Gardenia. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1983 .
The Stainless Steel Rule. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1986 .
Invincible Summer. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1987 .
Looking for Home. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1989 .

Across the Grain. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1990 .
Relative Strangers. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1993 .
Signs of Life. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1995 .
All That Glitters. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1996 .
Bad. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1998 .
Love Among the Walnuts. New York, Harper Collins, 1998 .

Eight Seconds, Harcourt, 2000
America's Musical Landscape, 2001;
Of Sound Mind, 2001;
Once upon a Marigold, 2002;
Much Ado About Grubstake, 2006;
Underground, 2007;
Twice upon a Marigold, 2008;
Music: The Art of Listening, 2009;

Thrice upon a Marigold, 2013;

Taking Pictures, forthcoming; Music from the Moon, forthcoming;
Why My Mother Is Green, forthcoming.


American Dreams series - children's historical novels
Into the Wind ( 1996)
Song of the Sea (1996)
Weather the storm (1996)



Lenona.