Carter, Alden R. 1947–

(Alden Richardson Carter)

PERSONAL: Born April 7, 1947, in Eau Claire, WI; son of John Kelley (a lawyer) and Hilda Small (Richardson) Carter; married Carol Ann Shadis (a photographer), September 14, 1974; children: Brian Patrick, Siri Morgan. Education: University of Kansas, B.A., 1969; Montana State University, teaching certificate, 1976. Politics: Democrat. Hobbies and other interests: Canoeing, camping, hiking, reading.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—1113 W. Onstad Dr., Marshfield, WI 54449. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Taught high school English and journalism for four years in Marshfield, WI. Speaker at conferences and workshops, including ALAN Workshop on Young Adult Literature, American Library Association, International Reading Association, and National Council of Teachers of English. Military service: U.S. Navy, 1969–74; became lieutenant senior grade; nominated for Navy Achievement Medal.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Council for Wisconsin Writers, Sierra Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Book for Young Adults citation, American Library Association (ALA), and Best Juvenile Book of the Year, Council for Wisconsin Writers, both 1984, both for Growing Season; Best Book for Young Adults citations, ALA, New York Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, and the Child Study Association, Best Book for Reluctant Readers citation, ALA Young Adult Services Committee, and Alabama Library Association's Readers' Choice Award, all 1985, all for Wart, Son of Toad; Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, 1986, for Modern Electronics; Best Book for Young Adults citations, ALA, Los Angeles Public Library, and Child Study Association, Best Book for Reluctant Readers citation, ALA Young Adult Services Committee, Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, and Best Juvenile Book of the Year, Council for Wisconsin Writers, all 1987, all for Sheila's Dying; Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, Book Council and National Science Teachers' Association, 1988, for Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age; Best Book for Young Adults citation, ALA, Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, Editor's Choice citation, Booklist, and Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association, all 1989, and Best of the Best citation, ALA, 1994, all for Up Country; Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, and Best Children's Fiction Book of the Year citation, Society of Midland Authors, both 1990, both for RoboDad; Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association, 1992, for The War of 1812; Best Juvenile Book of the Year (nonfiction), Council for Wisconsin Writers, 1993, for The Spanish-American War; Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, 1994, and American Bookseller Pick of the Lists citation, 1996, both for Dogwolf; Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, 1994, Best Juvenile Book of the Year (nonfiction), Council for Wisconsin Writers, 1995, both for China Past—China Future; Best Book for Young Adults citation, ALA, Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, 1995, both for Between a Rock and a Hard Place; Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association, American Bookseller Pick of the Lists citation, and Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice citation, all 1996, all for I'm Tougher than Asthma; Top Ten Young Adult Fiction Books citation and Best Books for Young Adults citation, both from ALA, Best Book for Reluctant Readers citation, ALA Young Adult Services Committee, American Bookseller Pick of the Lists citation, Best Juvenile Book of the Year (fiction), Council for Wisconsin Writers, and Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association, all 1997, and Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, 1998, all for Bull Catcher; Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice citation, and Sesame Street Parents Reviewer's Choice citation, all 1997, all for Big Brother Dustin; Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities, International Board on Books for Young People, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice citation, Exceptional Parent Library award, and Best Children's Book, Bank Street College of Education Children's Book Committee, all 1999, all for Seeing Things My Way; Best Book for the Teen Age citation, New York Public Library, 1999, for Crescent Moon; Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award, both 2000, both for Stretching Ourselves; Notable Wisconsin Writers list, Wisconsin Library Association, 2002.

WRITINGS:

YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION

(With Wayne Jerome LeBlanc) Supercomputers, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1985.

Modern China, photographs by Carol S. and Alden R. Carter, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1986.

(With Wayne Jerome LeBlanc) Modern Electronics, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1986.

Illinois, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1987.

Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1987.

The Shoshoni, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1989.

Last Stand at the Alamo, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1990.

The Battle of Gettysburg, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1990.

The Colonial Wars: Clashes in the Wilderness, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

The American Revolution: War for Independence, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

The War of 1812: Second Fight for Independence, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

The Mexican War: Manifest Destiny, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

The Civil War: American Tragedy, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

The Spanish-American War: Imperial Ambitions, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1992.

Battle of the Ironclads: The Monitor and the Merrimack, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1993.

China Past—China Future, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1994.

"THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION" SERIES; YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION

Colonies in Revolt, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1988.

The Darkest Hours, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1988.

At the Forge of Liberty, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1988.

Birth of the Republic, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1988.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Growing Season, Coward-McCann (New York, NY), 1984.

Wart, Son of Toad, Putnam (New York, NY), 1985.

Sheila's Dying, Putnam (New York, NY), 1987.

Up Country, Putnam (New York, NY), 1989, new edition, Speak (New York, NY), 2004.

RoboDad, Putnam (New York, NY), 1990, published as Dancing on Dark Water, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

Dogwolf, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

Bull Catcher, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997.

Crescent Moon, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1999.

Brother's Keeper, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

Love, Football, and Other Contact Sports (short stories), Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

PHOTO-ESSAYS; FOR CHILDREN

(With daughter, Siri M. Carter) I'm Tougher than Asthma!, photographs by Dan Young, Albert Whitman & Co. (Morton Grove, IL), 1996.

Big Brother Dustin (fiction), photographs by Dan Young with Carol S. Carter, Albert Whitman & Co. (Morton Grove, IL), 1997.

Seeing Things My Way, photographs by Carol S. Carter, Albert Whitman & Co. (Morton Grove, IL), 1998.

Dustin's Big School Day (fiction; sequel to Big Brother Dustin), photographs by Dan Young and Carol S. Carter, Albert Whitman & Co. (Morton Grove, IL), 1999.

Stretching Ourselves: Kids with Cerebral Palsy, photographs by Carol S. Carter, Albert Whitman & Co. (Morton Grove, IL), 2000.

I'm Tougher than Diabetes!, photographs by Carol Shadis Carter, Albert Whitman & Co. (Morton Grove, IL), 2001.

OTHER

(Editor) Tadeusz Kowalczyk, Auschwitz Veterinarian: Five Years in the Death Camps, foreword by Richard Olson, Brush Wolf Press (Marshfield, WI), 2003.

Bright Starry Banner: A Novel of the Civil War (fiction; for adults), Soho (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to Scholastic Scope; and to many anthologies edited by Donald R. Gallo, including Connections: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1989; Center Stage: One Act Plays for Teenage Readers and Actors, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1990; Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1993; No Easy Answers: Short Stories about Teenagers Making Tough Choices, Bantam Doubleday Dell (New York, NY), 1997; Time Capsule, Bantam Doubleday Dell (New York, NY), 1999; On the Edge, edited by Louis Duncan, Simon & Schuster, 1999; and On the Fringe, Dial (New York, NY), 2001.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Brother to the Eagle: Civil War Diaries of Sgt. Ambrose Armitage (adult nonfiction); At My Mother's Grave: A Memoir of Wartorn China (adult nonfiction; with David WenWai Chang); Gerard's Race (children's picture book); Walkaway (young adult fiction); The Sea Eagle: The Civil War Memoir of William Barker Cushing, Lieutenant Commander, U.S.N. (adult nonfiction).

SIDELIGHTS: Alden R. Carter, a former naval officer and high school English and journalism teacher, has written over a score of books about history and technology for young adults, but he is more often recognized for his award-winning fiction. Praised especially for his mastery of characterization, Carter writes realistically about the personal problems that young people sometimes face as they mature, including serious issues such as death, alcoholism, and mental illness. Aware that these problems might easily overburden his young readers, Carter commented in an essay in Something about the Author Autobiography Series (SAAS): "I'm always concerned that my novels sound bleak, when actually there's a fair amount of humor in all of them." This successful balance has earned him recognition from the American Library Association (ALA), library systems around the United States, and several writers' organizations.

Carter's first novel, Growing Season, concerns family relationships and the contrasts between city and country life. The book elicited positive critical responses. For instance, in the Voice of Youth Advocates, Mary K. Chelton praised its "superior characterizations." The 1984 novel is told from the perspective of Rick, a straight-arrow teenager whose senior year in high school is disrupted when his family leaves the city for a dairy farm in the country. The narrative describes the boy's journey into maturity and responsibility. Calling Growing Season "a realistic chronicle of agricultural and family life," Horn Book contributor Ethel R. Twichell commented that "it intertwines closely the narrative about farm life with the theme of family relations." School Library Journal reviewer Hope Bridgewater found it "an honest and sincere portrait of human growth and change," while noting that "the human emotions and situations described are universal."

Carter's second novel, Wart, Son of Toad, is the story of the relationship between a father and son whose family has been devastated by the accidental death of the teenage narrator's mother and sister. The father is an unpopular biology teacher whose students refer to him behind his back as Toad, and to his son as Wart. A Kirkus Reviews contributor found "dramatic power" in the scenes between the father and son. Both are unhappy and "can offer each other neither communication nor comfort," wrote a Wilson Library Bulletin contributor, who thought that Carter tells his tale with "just the right amount of humor and compassion." Calling the 1985 novel a "good performance," Robert Unsworth suggested in the School Library Journal that "Carter is strong on characterization-readers can connect with any of his readily recognizable people."

Sheila's Dying, the story of a young girl diagnosed with a fatal form of uterine cancer, "is a deeply moving story of the illness and death" of the title character, commented Janet Bryan in the School Library Journal. The story is narrated by boyfriend Jerry, a school basketball player, who changes his mind about dumping Sheila in order to devote himself to her throughout her terminal illness. Praising the novel's "sturdy characterization and dialogue," Zena Sutherland added in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books that it "makes a statement about responsibility without moralizing." According to Susan Ackler in the Voice of Youth Advocates, Sheila's Dying contains "a memorable cast of characters who are believable and will remain with the reader long after the book is finished." Stephanie Zvirin stated in Booklist, "Carter has written a tough book," one that, as a Publishers Weekly contributor suggested, "rings starkly true."

Carter's fourth novel, Up Country, looks at the troubled life of sixteen-year-old Carl Staggers, who "uses his talent with electronics both to shield himself from his mother's alcoholism and promiscuity and to try to make enough money repairing stolen stereos to get into engineering school later," explained School Library Journal reviewer Barbara Hutcheson, who called the book "a solid, unpreachy novel." When Carl's mother is arrested after being involved in a hit-and-run accident, he is sent to live with relatives on a country farm, where he encounters "unquestioning acceptance," noted Nancy Vasilakis in Horn Book. "Gripping, satisfying, and heart-wrenching—another winner from a talented writer," remarked Stella Baker in the Voice of Youth Advocates. According to Betsy Hearne in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Carter's character and situation will make young adult readers "think about the ways they solve whatever problems loom in their own lives." The selection of Up Country to the ALA's Best of the Best list in 1994 was, according to Carter in a correspondence with CA, "the high point of my career."

In RoboDad Carter focuses on a chubby fourteen-year-old girl named Shar, who must contend with the physiological changes of puberty as well as the upheaval in her family caused by her father's altered physical condition. Shar's father has suffered a massive stroke which has transformed him from a loving man into an emotionless and sometimes menacing stranger. Considering RoboDad a "fine, sensitive book," Leone McDermott stated in Booklist that Carter is "extraordinarily, almost painfully, perceptive." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books contributor Ruth Ann Smith remarked: "Powerful and disturbing, the story is told with compassion and honesty." Finding the ending "unsettling" but "refreshingly realistic," Laura L. Lent wrote in the Voice of Youth Advocates that RoboDad "keeps one's attention and leaves an ending that one can muse over for days."

Of his sixth novel, Dogwolf, Carter wrote in SAAS: "I sometimes think that I have been preparing my whole life to tell the story of Pete LaSavage, Jim Redwing, the dogwolf, and—as Pete describes it—'the fire from the end of the world.' But I do know that, at least for me, Dogwolf touches some underlying realities both terrible and wonderful that I have never had the courage or the skill to write about before." Dogwolf, released in 1994, tells the story of fifteen-year-old Pete, who is of mixed Chippewa, French and Swedish descent, as he spends a summer fire-watching on his family's farm in northern Wisconsin.

Following Dogwolf, Carter published the novels Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Bull Catcher, and Crescent Moon. The first title follows two cousins during their trek through a familial rite-of-passage, a week-long canoe trip. In Bull Catcher two friends consumed with playing baseball begin to have divergent perspectives: one remains totally focused on securing a path to the major leagues while the other starts to seek fulfillment elsewhere. Crescent Moon is a work of historical fiction set in early twentieth-century Wisconsin in the mill town of Eau Claire, at the close of the lumbering era. The changing smalltown environment and issues with racism are explored through the new friendship between two pairs: Jeremy, a boy without a mother, and his great-uncle Mac, a woodcutter wanting to pay tribute to his craft and to Native American people by crafting a statue of a Chippewa maiden; and Nathan Two-Horse and his daughter, who becomes the subject of Uncle Mac's Chippewa carving. While a Horn Book reviewer felt that "the characters sometimes speak too portentously about their place in history," School Library Journal contributor Carol A. Edwards commended Carter's "unusual richness of detail and character" and "action-packed plot." Roger Leslie noted in Booklist that the novel has "little suspense" but pleasantly presented "its reverent tribute to a simpler era." Remarked Edwards: "It is Jeremy's story and growth that hold readers."

Although Carter stressed in his SAAS essay that he does not "set out to advise kids how to survive the teenage years," he maintains a certain faith that his writing can have some positive influence. "Young adult novels provide no miraculous cure for the age-old problems of growing up," he said. "Yet, a YA novel can offer a respite of sorts. For a few hours, the young adult reader can escape into the lives of fictional young people who are also fighting to make some sense of life: young people who are, in short, proving that the teenage years can be survived."

Carter began writing nonfiction for young people soon after the publication of his first novel. Forming a partnership with his sister's husband, Wayne LeBlanc, he soon published Supercomputers and Modern Electronics. Later, with LeBlanc as his advisor, Carter won an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children citation for Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age. With this success behind him, Carter began writing nonfiction primarily about American history—a subject "more to my taste," he admitted in SAAS. A 1984 trip with his wife to China inspired the books Modern China and China Past—China Future. In the Voice of Youth Advocates, contributor Suzanne Manczuk called the latter "a concise, current, and thoughtful history." She added that "Carter does a nice job of presenting both facts and issues, in language and format that is accessible to middle school readers."

"The reasons why I've written so much nonfiction are varied," Carter commented in SAAS. "There are the practical reasons of earning a living and expanding my credit list, but there's more to it. I'm fascinated with history and believe strongly that young people need to learn about the past…. I also enjoy research and the process of expanding and reexamining my own knowledge." But, he later added: "As much as I enjoy writing nonfiction, fiction is my first love, and I think of myself primarily as a novelist."

In 1996 with the release of I'm Tougher than Asthma!, Carter added another type of book to his list of publications. Working with his wife, photographer Carol Shadis Carter, and sometimes with photographer Dan Young, Carter began creating photo-essays explaining what certain aspects of life are like for children dealing with different medical conditions or disabilities. I'm Tougher than Diabetes! incorporates this style and is, according to Booklist contributor Helen Rosenberg, "an inspirational tale of a family managing a difficult condition." The book, presented in an autobiographical format, is similar to its predecessor, I'm Tougher than Asthma!, which is narrated by Carter's daughter, Siri, who gives a first-person account of her experience with asthma. The book also includes an appendix that answers common questions and lists resources for asthmatics. Carol Baker, reviewing I'm Tougher than Asthma! for Catholic Library World, found it "great," not only for children with asthma, but "also for all children to learn about the handicaps, feelings, and problems of their classmates."

Carter's other photo-essays for young readers have been similarly praised and include books explaining life with visual impairment, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. Seeing Things My Way highlights the technology and therapy that seven-year-old Amanda uses to help her integrate into the mainstream. Stretching Ourselves: Kids with Cerebral Palsy presents four children, each affected by the disorder to a different degree. Big Brother Dustin and Dustin's Big School Day are fictional accounts of the life of a little boy with Down syndrome. As the title of the former suggests, readers follow Dustin as he prepares for the arrival of his sister. In Dustin's Big School Day, second-grader Dustin looks forward to two special guests visiting his school. Both Stretching Ourselves and Big Brother Dustin received Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Awards, among other recognitions.

Carter created a first for himself in his 2004 publication, Bright Starry Banner: A Novel of the Civil War: his debut adult fiction title. The author turns to one of his favorite research topics, the American Civil War, to create a "monumentally ambitious" work, according to a Publishers Weekly critic, detailing the three-day Battle of Stones River. Though less well-known than other major Civil War battles, such as Gettysburg, Stones River was still one of the bloodiest battles ever fought in the United States, and for both sides it was a crucial battle at a turning point in the Civil War. Fought in Tennessee from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, the battle was joined by the Union troops of General William Starke Rosecrans and the Southern forces under General Braxton Bragg, with both sides ultimately claiming victory. Similar to Michael Shaara's 1974 novel, The Killer Angels, Carter's Bright Starry Banner employs multiple points of view to portray the actual battle in vivid fictional format. Carter is able to convey the personalities of the time as well as destructive in-fighting that took place within each opposing camp. The Publishers Weekly reviewer went on to praise the "exquisite and graphic detail" in Bright Starry Banner, concluding: "For a depiction of war,… this is as good as it gets." Similarly, Booklist critic Margaret Flanagan felt the "prominent historical characters fairly leap off the pages" in this "must-read." A Kirkus Reviews contributor added to the praise, commenting that while Carter's "war-is-hell" theme is not new, it nonetheless comes across "with the kind of creative force that amounts to a sense of mission." The same critic called Bright Starry Banner a "fascinating story."

Carter told CA: "I've always loved words and stories. I wrote my first short story in third grade and was astonished when it made my sister cry. From that point on, I wanted to be a writer. It took me a lot of years, and I'm still not the writer I'd like to be. But that's ok. One of the wonderful things about writing is that there is always something to learn.

"My greatest influence as a writer? My father and mother. Dad had a wonderful education, but would read to me all the rip-roaring stories of cowboys, pirates, and dragons I wanted with a complete disregard for the quality of the writing. My mother was different. She'd read to us on long car trips, pausing to add her comments as a professional editor about how the writer could have improved this or that sentence, scene or story. In the end both my imaginative and critical faculties got an education.

"My writing process is pretty simple. I get my facts and my outline together and then I write. I've never known of anyone to make it in this profession who doesn't work a regular schedule. So I'm at my work day after day. Fortunately, I enjoy it most of the time.

"Imagining a story is easy, making it happen takes a lot of work. I rarely have anything published that I haven't been through twenty to twenty-five times. Good writing doesn't come easy.

"My favorite of my books is my adult novel Bright Starry Banner. It better be, since it took me four years to write. Among my YA novels, I'd have to say Love, Football, and Other Contact Sports. I had a great time writing about those kids. I hope they're a good reflection of what I see in kids today. I'm an optimist; I think the future is in very good hands.

"I'm a storyteller and I don't worry too much about effect beyond my story entertaining. But yes, I believe in some things. I believe in courage and that most people are doing the best they can. I think we have to stick together, help each other over the rough spots, and try to be decent, useful human beings."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 22, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

Gallo, Donald R., editor, Speaking for Ourselves Too: More Autobiographical Sketches by Notable Authors for Young Adults, National Council of Teachers of English (Urbana, IL), 1993, pp. 25-27.

St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 18, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1994.

Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1993.

Writers for Young Adults, Volume 1, Scribner's (New York, NY), 1993, pp. 209-218.

PERIODICALS

Appraisal: Science Books for Young People, spring, 1987, Sara Greenleaf and Indira Nair, reviews of Modern Electronics, pp. 39-40; fall, 1988, Allan L. Fisher, review of Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age, pp. 53-54.

Booklist, November 15, 1985, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Wart, Son of Toad, p. 481; June 1, 1986, Ilene Cooper, review of Modern China, p. 1458; June 1, 1987, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Sheila's Dying, pp. 1514-1515; December 15, 1987, Ilene Cooper, review of Radio, p. 703; December 1, 1988, Phillis Wilson, review of At the Forge of Liberty, pp. 644-645; November 15, 1990, Leone McDermott, review of RoboDad, pp. 653-654; April, 15, 1997, Randy Meyer, review of Bull Catcher, p. 1420; August, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of Big Brother Dustin, p. 1905; November 15, 1998, Kay Weisman, review of Seeing Things My Way, p. 592; April 15, 1999, review of Dustin's Big School Day, p. 1534; February 15, 2000, Roger Leslie, review of Crescent Moon, p. 1110; March, 15, 2000, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Stretching Ourselves, p. 1372; December 15, 2001, Ilene Cooper, review of Sheila's Dying, p. 729; January 1, 2002, Helen Rosenberg, review of I'm Tougher than Diabetes!, p. 850; December 15, 2003, Margaret Flanagan, review of Bright Starry Banner: A Novel of the Civil War, p. 725.

Book Report, January-February, 1986, Georgann K. Jenkins, review of Supercomputers, p. 40; September-October, 1986, Connie Gilman, review of Modern China, p. 50; May-June, 1997, Anna Hartle, review of Bull Catcher, p. 30.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July-August, 1987, Zena Sutherland, review of Sheila's Dying, p. 204; January, 1988, Betsy Hearne, review of Illinois, p. 84; July-August, 1989, Betsy Hearne, review of Up Country, p. 270; February, 1991, Ruth Ann Smith, review of RoboDad, pp. 138-139; March, 1997, review of Bull Catcher, p. 242; March, 1999, review of Dustin's Big School Day, p. 234.

Catholic Library World, September, 1996, Carol Baker, review of I'm Tougher than Asthma!.

Cobblestone, November, 2004, review of The Colonial Wars: Clashes in the Wilderness, p. 44.

Horn Book, August, 1984, Ethel R. Twichell, review of Growing Season, pp. 473-474; July-August, 1989, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Up Country, p. 486; May-June, 1997, Mary M. Burns, review of Big Brother Dustin, p. 303; March, 2000, review of Crescent Moon, p. 194.

Horn Book Guide, fall, 1997, reviews of Big Brother Dustin and Bull Catcher, pp. 249, 312; spring, 1999, review of Seeing Things My Way, p. 90; fall, 1999, review of Dustin's Big School Day, p. 247.

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, October, 1997, review of Bull Catcher, p. 160.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 1985, review of Wart, Son of Toad, p. 1197; May 1, 1987, review of Sheila's Dying, p. 716; October 1, 1988, review of Birth of the Republic and Colonies in Revolt, p. 1466; January 15, 1997, review of Bull Catcher, p. 138; December 15, 2003, review of Bright Starry Banner, p. 1410.

Publishers Weekly, May 8, 1987, review of Sheila's Dying, p. 72; February 15, 1999, review of Between a Rock and a Hard Place, p. 109; February 16, 2004, review of Bright Starry Banner, p. 151.

School Library Journal, September, 1984, Hope Bridgewater, review of Growing Season, p. 126; August, 1985, Edwin F. Bokee, review of Supercomputers, p. 27; February, 1986, Robert Unsworth, review of Wart, Son of Toad, pp. 93-94; August, 1986, Rena Brunner, review of Modern China, p. 90; May, 1987, Janet Bryan, review of Sheila's Dying, p. 108; March, 1988, Eunice Weech, review of Illinois, p. 205; November, 1988, Mary Mueller, reviews of Birth of the Republic and Colonies in Revolt, p. 135; January, 1989, Janet E. Gelfand, review of Darkest Hours, p. 97; May, 1989, Elaine Fort Weischedel, review of At the Forge of Liberty, p. 115; June, 1989, Barbara Hutcheson, review of Up Country, p. 121; May, 1997, Tom S. Hurlburt, review of Bull Catcher, p. 131; June, 1997, review of Big Brother Dustin, p. 85; November 1, 1998, Stephani Hutchinson, review of Seeing Things My Way, p. 103; June, 1999, Lucinda Snyder, review of Dustin's Big School Day, p. 92; March, 2000, Carol A. Edwards, review of Crescent Moon, p. 234; May, 2000, Margaret C. Howell, review of Stretching Ourselves, p. 160; May, 2002, Martha Gordon, review of I'm Tougher than Diabetes!, p. 135.

Science Books and Films, March/April, 1987, R. Bowen Loftin, review of Modern Electronics, p. 231.

Social Studies, May, 1998, review of The Spanish-American War, p. 135.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1984, Mary K. Chelton, review of Growing Season, p. 195; December, 1985, Shirley McFerson, review of Supercomputers, p. 330; June, 1987, Susan Ackler, review of Sheila's Dying, p. 75; February, 1988, Civia Tuteur, review of Illinois, p. 294; August, 1989, Stella Baker, review of Up Country, p. 155; December, 1990, Laura L. Lent, review of RoboDad, pp. 277-278; October, 1994, Suzanne Manczuk, review of China Past—China Future, p. 229; October, 1997, review of Bull Catcher, p. 241; February, 1998, review of Bull Catcher, p. 364.

Wilson Library Bulletin, November, 1985, review of Wart, Son of Toad, p. 47.

ONLINE

Alden R. Carter Home Page, http://www.aldencarter.com (March 17, 2006).

Wisconsin Library Association, Inc., Web site, http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/ (April 19, 2006), "2002 Notable Wisconsin Authors," biography of Alden R. Carter.