Born:
  Indiana,

Current Home:
Bisbee, Washington,

Patrick Jennings

Biography

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Patrick Jennings first book, Faith and the Electric Dogs, became a Booklist Editors' Choice and A Texas Bluebonnet Master List selection. Faith and the Rocket Cat received accolades, as well. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A blissful multilingual escapade.” Jennings continued receiving critical acclaim with Putnam and Pennyroyal. Booklist states, “Â…the characters, both feathered and human, are strikingly fresh.” His reputation as a talent of middle grade fiction continued to grow with the publication of The Beastly Arms and The Wolving Time. Of The Wolving Time, Publishers Weekly wrote, “Jennings demonstrates a superb diversity of style and characterization with this gripping tale of a family that can turn into wolves.” /p>

In 2005, Jennings turns to the subject of baseball in his next novel, Out Standing in My Field. Ty Cutter just isn't living up to the reputation of his namesake, Ty Cobb. But what is Little Leaguer to do when his father, who once dreamed of playing in the majors, is the coach? In this sharply witty, deeply poignant all -American novel, Ty has to figure out just who he's trying to please — his father, his teammates, or himself.

Jennings often visits schools. He presents to large groups and small, leads workshops at young writers' conferences, and speaks at professional conferences. Patrick focuses on the use of language and story to plumb the mysteries of the universe, and to express the breadth of one's imagination. His goal is to inspire students to take up their “magic wands” (writing instruments), to value their own curiosity and creativity, to see writing and reading as means toward a greater understanding of oneself and others (living and otherwise), and to have a lot of fun doing it.

Patrick Jennings was born in Indiana, and moved to Arizona as a teenager. He attended Arizona State University and San Francisco State University, where he studied education, writing, and art. He has taught English and preschool in the U.S. and in Mexico and was a librarian in the oldest public library in Arizona. He now lives and writes in a small seaport town on the Olympic Peninsula with his family.

Visit Patrick Jennings's Web site.

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  The Teacher Store

  Out Standing in My Field by Patrick Jennings Ty Cutter is a lousy right fielder. He can’t catch, he can’t hit—he can barely keep from tripping over home plate. Everyone knows his sister, Daisy, is a zillion times better at the game than he is. So why doesn’t he just quit? For one thing, Ty loves baseball. For another, Ty’s father is also the coach of his team. “The Professor” is a baseball fanatic who’s pouring his unfulfilled major-league dreams into the least-talented person on the team — his son. $16.95 Hardcover Book | Grades 3-7

  
  Out Standing in My Field
  Grades 3-7 $16.95
  
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  The Teacher Store
  	The Wolving Time by Patrick Jennings A family of werewolves faces the human evil of persecution in this tense and spellbinding novel from one of Scholastic Press' favorite authors. $16.95 Hardcover Book | Grades 2-6

  
  The Wolving Time
  Grades 2-6 $16.95