Born:
July  02, 1919
Washington, District Of Columbia,
United States Of America

Current Home:
Chappaqua, New York,
United States Of America

Jean Craighead George

Biography

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Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in a family of naturalists, Jean George has centered her life around writing and nature. She attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating with degrees in English and science. In the 1940s she was a member of the White House press corps and a reporter for The Washington Post. Ms. George, who has written over 60 books — among them My Side of the Mountain, a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, and its 1990 sequel — On the Far Side of the Mountain — also hikes, canoes, and makes sourdough pancakes. In 1991, Ms. George became the first winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association's Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature, which was presented to her for the “consistent superior quality” of her work.

Her inspiration for the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves evolved from two specific events during a summer she spent studying wolves and tundra at the Arctic Research Laboratory of Barrow, Alaska: “One was a small girl walking the vast and lonesome tundra outside of Barrow; the other was a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of the pack in Denali National Park. . . . They haunted me for a year or more, as did the words of one of the scientists at the lab: 'If there ever was any doubt in my mind that a man could live with the wolves, it is gone now. The wolves are truly gentlemen, highly social and affectionate.'”

The mother of three children, Jean George is a grandmother who has joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George has kept 173 pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. “Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behavior and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories.”

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  My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George George's remarkable novels feature the wilderness adventures of young Sam Gribley and his falcon, Frightful. Sam leaves home to fend for himself in the mountains where he depends on his wits for survival. In the second book, Sam's sister joins him, his falcon is confiscated by a conservation officer, and his peaceful life is shattered as he hikes across the Catskills in search of his beloved falcon. Alone in the mountains, young Sam learns about courage, danger, and the true meani $2.47 You save: 50% Paperback Book | Grades 6-9

  
  My Side of the Mountain
  Grades 6-9 $2.47
  
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  	Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George and John Schoenherr A 13-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the tundra and is protected by a pack of wolves. "A thrilling adventure story." - SLJ $5.95 Paperback Book | Grades 6-9

  
  Julie of the Wolves
  Grades 6-9 $5.95