Born:
October  09, 1937
New York, New York,

Current Home:
Great Neck, New York,

Johanna Hurwitz

Biography

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Prolific author Johanna Hurwitz was born in 1937 into a New York City home filled with books. Her father, a journalist and bookseller, and her mother, a library assistant, instilled in her a love of reading and writing, and from an early age, Hurwitz intended a future in books. Until she was 15, the family lived in the Bronx, where Hurwitz attended P.S. 35, a name she has given to several schools in her books. She finished high school in Queens, and then went on to Queens College and Columbia University, where she got her Master's in Library Science. She worked as a children's librarian for many years.

In 1962, Hurwitz married and had two children within four years. Her daughter, Nomi, was the inspiration for the main character in her first book for young readers, Busybody Nora, published in 1976. Since then, Hurwitz has used situations in the lives of her family members for inspiration and details in her more than 50 books. She is best known for her lighthearted school stories, many of which can be grouped loosely into series about characters that have won the hearts of her readers. In addition, Hurwitz has written historical fiction, picture books, young adult novels, nonfiction, and biographies of Anne Frank, Astrid Lindgren, Leonard Bernstein, and Helen Keller.

Hurwitz and her husband live in Great Neck, New York.

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  The Teacher Store
  	Class President by Johanna Hurwitz Julio discovers his latent leadership skills as the class prepares to hold an election for class president. $4.95 Paperback Book | Grades 3-5

  
  Class President
  Grades 3-5 $4.95
  
• Teacher Store
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  The Teacher Store
  	El payaso de la clase by Johanna Hurwitz Lucas Cott, the class clown of the 3rd grade, decides to become the perfect student - but finds it hard to change his ways. "Hurwitz demonstrates her Cleary-like gift for making the everyday stuff of real life both funny and touching." - Kirkus $3.99 Paperback Book | Grades 3-5

  
  El payaso de la clase
  Grades 3-5 $3.99