Caroline B. Cooney

Caroline B. Cooney is the author of more than 90 suspense, mystery, and romance novels for teenagers, which have sold over 15,000,000 copies and are published in several languages. The Face on the Milk Carton has sold over 3,000,000 copies and was made into a television movie. Her books have won many state library awards and are on many booklists, such as the New York Public Library’s annual teen picks. Cooney grew up in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, and spent most of her life on the shoreline of that state but is now in South Carolina near her family. She is currently researching the exciting, terrifying, and completely unexpected story of the children who will one day sail on the Mayflower to the New World.

Cooney's latest novel is the YA thriller, No Such Person.

Recently I asked Cooney about what she was reading. Her reply:

I'm reading David McCullough's The Wright Brothers, a topic that did not interest me in the slightest, but I loved his other books, so I felt I owed it to him. Now I am completely into Orville and Wilbur. Of course they deserve such a fine author after all. Here's my favorite line so far: when asked for advice on how to get ahead in life, Wilbur remarked, "Pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio."

I read a mystery a few months ago, again with low expectations, by Felix Francis, who continued his father Dick Francis's series. Of course I can't tell you the title because mainly those books have one word titles, and who can remember whether the book you read was Gamble or Refusal. I loved it. Now I've read (I think) all the Felix ones. So now I have gone back into Dick’s books, which begin in the 1960s and continue into the 80s. Maybe even 90s. Anyway, enough to keep me busy for the summer. They're such fast reads, they're sort of one-a-day books.

Alongside, I am working my way (that’s the correct phrasing) through the annotated autobiography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Pioneer Girl. I ordered this probably a year ago when I read the review but somehow it was unavailable for months. Now it’s here. If you really, really loved the Little House series, you will love this, too, but otherwise, move on. A stunning amount of research went into this very long and thick book. I feel weak, just picturing it. I particularly like the references to one of the illustrators, Helen Sewell, because when I was very little, she briefly lived across the street from us.

Visit Caroline B. Cooney's website.

--Marshal Zeringue