LITTKE, Lael J. 1929-

PERSONAL: Born December 2, 1929, in Mink Creek, ID; daughter of Frank George and Ada Geneva (Petersen) Jensen; married George C. Littke (a college professor), June 29, 1954; children: Lori S. Education: Utah State University, B.S., 1952; graduate study at City College (now City University of New York), 1955-59, and University of California—Los Angeles, 1968. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Hobbies and other interests: Travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—1345 Daveric Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107. Agent—Jack Byrne, 3209 South Fifty-fifth St., Milwaukee, WI 53219-4433.

CAREER: Gates Rubber Co., Denver, CO, secretary, 1952-54; Life Insurance Association of America, New York, NY, secretary, 1954-60; worked as a medical secretary for a physician in New York, NY, 1960-63; writer, 1963—. Taught writing classes in writers' programs at Pasadena City College and University of California—Los Angeles, 1978-88.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Council on Children's Literature.

AWARDS, HONORS: Southern California Council on Children's Literature Award for notable work of fiction, 1992, for Blue Skye; Best Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library, 2003, for Lake of Secrets.

WRITINGS:

Wilmer the Watchdog, Western (New York, NY), 1970.

Tell Me When I Can Go, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1978.

Cave-In!, illustrated by Tom Dunnington, Children's Press (New York, NY), 1981.

Trish for President, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1984.

Shanny on Her Own, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1985.

Loydene in Love, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1986.

Where the Creeks Meet, Deseret (Salt Lake City, UT), 1987.

Prom Dress, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1989.

Blue Skye, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1990.

Who Painted the Porcupine Purple?, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi, Silver Burdett (Morristown, NJ), 1992.

The Watcher, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Haunted Sister, H. Holt (New York, NY), 1998.

Lake of Secrets, H. Holt (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Richard E. Turley and James Michael Pratt) Stories from the Life of Joseph Smith, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 2003.

King of the Knock Jokes, Dominic Press (Carlsbad, CA), 2003.

The Cookie Quest, Dominic Press (Carlsbad, CA), 2003.

Space Slug, Dominic Press (Carlsbad, CA), 2003.

Searching for Selene, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 2003.

"TALL TALE" SERIES; WITH CASSETTE RECORDING

Olympia Odette Presents Paul Bunyan's Blue Ox Blues, illustrated by Tom and Carol Newsom, Thinking Well (East Moline, IL), 1990.

Olympia Odette Presents Davy Crockett's Bear-ly Believable Sneeze, illustrated by Tom and Carol Newsom, Thinking Well (East Moline, IL), 1990.

Olympia Odette Presents Nellie Bly's "In a Jam" Telegram, illustrated by Tom and Carol Newsom, Thinking Well (East Moline, IL), 1990.

"PEANUT BUTTER POND" SERIES; WITH CASSETTE RECORDING

The Day Woodchuck Would Chuck Wood at Peanut Butter Pond, illustrated by Stephanie McFetridge Britt, Thinking Well (East Moline, IL), 1990.

The Day Porcupine Put on the Dog at Peanut Butter Pond, illustrated by Stephanie McFetridge Britt, Thinking Well (East Moline, IL), 1990.

The Day Snake Saved Time at Peanut Butter Pond, illustrated by Stephanie McFetridge Britt, Thinking Well (East Moline, IL), 1990.

"BEE THERES" SERIES

Getting Rid of Rhoda, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1992.

The Mystery of Ruby's Ghost, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1992.

Star of the Show, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1993.

There's a Snake at Girls' Camp, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1994.

The Bridesmaid Dress Disaster, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1994.

Run, Ducky, Run, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1996.

The Phantom Fair, Deseret Book Company (Salt Lake City, UT), 1996.

OTHER

Contributor of stories to anthologies, including Best Short Stories of 1973, 1973, Miniature Mysteries, 1981, Ellery Queen's Masters of Mystery, 1987, and Mystery Cats, 1995; contributor to magazines, including Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Seventeen, Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, Boy's Life, Young Miss, and Co-ed.

SIDELIGHTS: Although Lael J. Littke has written books for children of various ages, she is best known as the author of stories of teenage girls who become involved in romance and adventure. In books such as Shanny on Her Own, Loydene in Love, and Blue Skye, Littke creates plucky characters who mature quickly through the course of their adventures; in other works, including Prom Dress and The Watcher, Littke has written suspense tales that School Library Journal contributor Audrey Eaglen says "could have been written by either [popular authors Christopher] Pike or [R. L.] Stine."

"I was born and grew up in Mink Creek, a tiny farming community in the mountains of southeastern Idaho," Littke once told CA. "People in other parts of the county used to say that the way to get to Mink Creek was to go as far back in the hills as you can—then go a little farther. We didn't even have a paved highway when I was growing up, and a trip to Preston, the county seat twenty miles away (population 4,000), was like a journey to another planet. What I liked most of all there was the Carnegie Public Library."

"I loved books from the time my mother bought a copy of Three Little Pigs for me when I was about four," the author continued. "I read all the books that my mother owned plus all of those in our little country school. My idea of heaven was when big crates of books would arrive from the State Circulating Library in Boise." Littke's love for books soon grew into a desire to write. Doing chores around the family ranch, she related, "was my favorite time to dream and I thought of the time when I would become a writer and write about the valley which spread before me and the people who lived there." Many of her first short stories were set in Mink Creek, as well as several of her novels, for which she renamed the town "Wolf Creek" and "Blue Creek."

Shanny on Her Own and Loydene in Love, for instance, are companion books featuring Los Angeles native Shanny Adler, a fifteen-year-old girl who in Shanny on Her Own learns about growing up during a stay at her Aunt Adabelle's Idaho ranch. Littke reverses the circumstances in Loydene in Love, when Shanny's friend from Wolf Creek visits her in California. Once in Los Angeles, Loydene must decide whether the excitement of tinseltown and a new boyfriend are enough reason not to return home. While critics have occasionally faulted Littke's romances for having predictable characterization and plotlines, others have complimented Littke on her pacing and clever dialogue. For example, in a review of Shanny on Her Own, School Library Journal contributor Ruth Horowitz complained that Littke's heroine is "cardboard," but added that Shanny's "clever first-person narrative" makes the book "better than most." Similarly, Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Kathy Fritts remarked on the novel's quick pace, humor, and "charm," yet found the growth of the protagonist to be handled in an unskilled fashion. Of the book's sequel, School Library Journal contributor Betty Ann Porter found that Littke's "message is well taken without being overbearing" and described the protagonist as "a believable and engaging young woman."

Littke's Blue Skye is a similar tale of a young girl who finds herself in an unfamiliar but positive environment. Eleven-year-old Skye, who has become used to a vagabond life of traveling with her mother, is left at her grandfather's home in Idaho when her mother decides to marry. At first, Skye feels abandoned and resentful, but she gradually grows to love her extended family, including all the aunts and cousins she meets. When her mother finally returns, the young protagonist decides to remain with her new family. Several reviewers commended Littke for her characterizations and handling of the subject matter, including a Publishers Weekly critic who praised the novel's "energetic and heartening" plot and "dynamic" characters, and also appreciated Littke's "easy, blues rhythm writing style that envelops the reader." "Thoughtful and solidly entertaining" are the words a Kirkus Reviews contributor used to sum up this award-winning novel.

A lighter problem faces the protagonist of Trish for President, who runs for class office to attract the attention of a boy, only to question her feelings about the race. "It's an enjoyable (and funny!) read with food for thought besides," Judith A. Sheriff observed in Voice of Youth Advocates, while a Publishers Weekly critic called this "first-rate" story a "fast, suspenseful, funny chronicle."

Prom Dress and The Watcher deal with suspense of a more sinister kind as the protagonists become involved in mysteries that could endanger their lives. In Prom Dress, for instance, the wearers of an irresistible but cursed dress feel great about themselves until tragedy strikes, while in The Watcher, soap opera fan Catherine Belmont is harassed by someone who replays events of a television show by using Catherine as a subject. When Catherine is almost killed in a stage "accident," she begins to suspect several of the people closest to her. Comparing Littke's suspense thrillers to those of genre favorites Stine, Richie Cusick, and Diane Hoh, Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Marylee Tiernan commented that "kids will love the fast-paced, suspenseful plot" of The Watcher. Kliatt reviewer Gail E. Roberts also praised this novel, particularly the story line, with its "convincing red herrings" and surprising ending.

The novels Haunted Sister and Lake of Secrets are both thrillers in which the female protagonists must come to grips with a mysterious past. In the former, Janine suffers a serious car accident and has an out-of-body experience during which she meets the spirit of her deceased twin sister, Lenore. When she reoccupies her body, Janine finds Lenore has joined her, in both body and mind, and the two battle for control in what Mary Ann Capan described as an "intriguing story line" in her Voice of Youth Advocates review. Booklist's Anne O'Malley praised the work as well, citing "believable, sympathetic characters" who drive the plot and an unexpected yet gratifying surprise at novel's end. The past in Lake of Secrets revolves around the disappearance of Carlene's brother Keith, presumed drowned before her birth. However, Carlene wonders what actually happened after he begins to haunt her when she visits the lake town where the tragedy took place. For the complex mother-and-daughter characterizations and the "exciting" plot, to quote a Publishers Weekly critic, the novel elicited praise. Among its enthusiasts was Horn Book's Kitty Flynn, who called the novel "a riveting tale," and Booklist's Frances Bradburn, who described the plot and characters as "realistic."

Littke, whose other works include the "Bee Theres" series about a sixth-grade girls' church group, and Stories from the Life of Joseph Smith, a collection of stories coauthored with Richard E. Turley and James Michael Pratt, once commented: "After teaching writing classes for several years, I have decided that the difference between a successful author and one who gets only rejections is often a matter of discipline: the discipline to stick with a project to completion, to revise it endlessly if necessary, and to send it out again and again if it keeps coming back. It takes a hard disciplinarian to sit oneself down at a cold typewriter each morning and go at it again, but that's what it takes. I had a friend who kept her ironing board set up next to her typewriter, and each morning she told herself that if she didn't write, she would have to iron, a task she hated more than scrubbing bathrooms. Even so, she often spent the day ironing. That's how hard it is to become a successful writer. But most of us agree that it's worth every effort we've made."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 1979, review of Tell Me When I Can Go, p. 927; September 15, 1981, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Cave-In!, p. 99; October 1, 1998, Anne O'Malley, review of Haunted Sister, p. 324; March 1, 2002, Frances Bradburn, review of Lake of Secrets, p. 1131.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 1986, review of Shanny on Her Own, p. 113; March, 1987, Zena Sutherland, review of Loydene in Love, p. 130; March, 1993, Roger Sutton, review of Getting Rid of Rhoda and The Mystery of Ruby's Ghost, p. 217.

Horn Book, May, 2002, Kitty Flynn, review of Lake of Secrets, p. 334.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 1991, review of Blue Skye, p. 1405; February 15, 2002, review of Lake of Secrets, p. 261.

Kliatt, July, 1994, Gail E. Roberts, review of The Watcher, pp. 9-10.

Publishers Weekly, January 18, 1985, review of Trish for President, p. 74; April 25, 1986, review of Trish for President, p. 87; October 18, 1991, review of Blue Skye, p. 63; August 31, 1998, review of Haunted Sister, p. 77; February 18, 2002, review of Lake of Secrets, p. 97.

School Library Journal, September, 1981, F. Crabbe, review of Cave-In!, p. 118; December, 1985, Ruth Horowitz, review of Shanny on Her Own, pp. 103-104; March, 1987, Betty Ann Porter, review of Loydene in Love, p. 172; December, 1989, Audrey Eaglen, "New Blood for Young Readers," p. 49; September, 1991, p. 256; October, 1998, Janet Hilbun, review of Haunted Sister, p. 138; March, 2002, Saleena L. Davidson, review of Lake of Secrets, p. 234.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 1985, Judith A. Sheriff, review of Trish for President, p. 50; April, 1986, Kathy Fritts, review of Shanny on Her Own, p. 32; April, 1990, Rosie Peasley, review of Prom Dress, pp. 38-39; August, 1994, Marylee Tiernan, review of The Watcher, pp. 157-158; February, 1999, Mary Ann Capan, review of Haunted Sister, p. 437.