Miller, Debbie 1951-

views updated

MILLER, Debbie 1951-

(Debbie S. Miller)

PERSONAL: Born August 14, 1951, in San Francisco, CA; daughter of Frederic E. and Jacqueline (McCurdy) Supple; married Dennis C. Miller (a bush pilot), September 8, 1973; children: Robin, Casey (daughters). Education: University of Denver, B.A., 1973; attended University of Alaska.

ADDRESSES: Home—Fairbanks, AK. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Walker & Co., 104 5th Ave., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10011. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and photojournalist. Elementary schoolteacher in California and Alaska, 1973–79; State of Alaska, Legislative Branch, Fairbanks, investigator and writer, 1982–86; Caribou Enterprises, Fairbanks, photojournalist, beginning 1986. Active volunteer in the conservation community.

WRITINGS:

Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Sierra Club Books (San Francisco, CA), 1990.

(Coauthor) Audubon Field Guide to National Wildlife Refuges: Alaska and the Northwest, St. Martin's Griffin (New York, NY), 2000.

JUVENILE NONFICTION

A Caribou Journey, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1994.

Flight of the Golden Plover: The Amazing Migration between Hawaii and Alaska, Alaska Northwest Books (Anchorage, AK), 1996.

Disappearing Lake: Nature's Magic in Denali National Park, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1997.

A Polar Bear Journey, illustrations by Jon Van Zyle, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.

River of Life, illustrations by Jon Van Zyle, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2000.

The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail, illustrations by Jon Van Zyle, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 2001.

A Woolly Mammoth Journey, illustrations by Jon Van Zyle, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2001.

Are Trees Alive?, illustrations by Stacey Schuett, Walker (New York, NY), 2002.

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, illustrations by Jon Van Zyle, Walker (New York, NY), 2003.

Big Alaska, illustrations by Jon Van Zyle, Walker (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including Wilderness and Alaska. Contributor to Arctic Refuge: A Circle of Testimony, Milkweed Editions, 2001

SIDELIGHTS: Debbie Miller has written numerous picture books for children about Alaska. Her first book, however, Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, was a nonfiction book for adults. Miller told CA: "After spending thirteen years exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I was motivated to write a book about the region, based on our extraordinary wilderness adventures and the fact that the area is threatened with proposed oil development. The Arctic Refuge is the largest and most isolated protected block of wilderness remaining in North America. Midnight Wilderness vividly describes this wilderness, its wildlife, and my travels throughout more than a thousand miles of the area by kayak and on foot."

In her first picture book, A Caribou Journey, Miller focuses on a single caribou mother and her calf and "provides information … that goes well beyond the picturesque," as noted by Mary Harris Veeder in a review in Booklist. Disappearing Lake: Nature's Magic in Denali National Park, chronicles an area that turns from meadow to lake and back to meadow again in one season. In the book, the author describes such scientific phenomenon as "vernal lakes." Susan Dove Lempke, writing in Booklist, noted that the book's "overall tone is quiet and the pace slow."

Like A Caribou Journey, A Polar Bear Journey, describes the life cycle of polar bears by focusing on one bear and her cub. "Without anthropomorphizing, Miller takes children inside the bears' world," noted Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper. Miller looks to the past in her book A Woolly Mammoth Journey, which depicts a woolly mammoth family's hypothetical life as they lived more than 10,000 years ago. Carolyn Phelan, writing in Booklist, noted, "One of the few books available on woolly mammoths." Miller follows various wildlife in River of Life, which focuses on Alaskan river in various seasons. Writing in Booklist, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, called the book "elegant" and noted, "The descriptive text … reveals the life the river supports and its interconnectedness."

In Are Trees Alive?, the author delves into the lives of trees, focusing on such issues as how they get their nutrients and survive. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the book "A feel-good story from the tree-hugging illustration on the front cover to the cozy family picnic at the end." In The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail, Miller describes the origins of the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and focuses on the historic 1925 race to deliver diphtheria antitoxin serum to Nome, Alaska. A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that the author "does a thorough job of explaining the different dog teams and owners" in her recounting of an historic 1925 rescue effort involving them. Todd Morning, writing in Booklist, commented that "Miller's telling is exciting, and her details are compelling."

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights depicts a year of life in the Arctic as the author explains the inevitable move from extraordinarily long periods of daylight to darkness over the months of a year. Miller provides this information by focusing on various animals involved in their seasonal activities. "A lovely treatment of a difficult concept and of a very special place," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Writing in the School Library Journal, Patricia Manning called the book "a winner."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, November, 1995, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 562.

Booklist, September 15, 1994, Mary Harris Veeder, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 140; March 15, 1997, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Disappearing Lake: Nature's Magic in Denali National Park, p. 1246; December 15, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of A Polar Bear Journey, p. 701; December 1, 1998, Sally Estes and Carolyn Phelan, review of A Polar Bear Journey, p. 676; March 15, 2000, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of River of Life, p. 1384; May 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Woolly Mammoth Journey, p. 1686; June 1, 2002, Todd Morning, review of Are Trees Alive?, p. 1727; January 1, 2003, Todd Morning, review of The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail, p. 884; October 1, 2003, Carolyn Phelan, review of Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, p. 314.

Catholic Library World, December, 1998, review of A Polar Bear Journey, p. 67.

Center for Children's Books Bulletin, February, 1997, review of Disappearing Lake, p. 215.

Childhood Education, spring, 2003, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 177; summer, 2004, review of Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, p. 212.

E, January, 2001, review of Midnight Wilderness, p. 61.

Horn Book, spring, 1997, review of Flight of the Golden Plover: The Amazing Migration between Hawaii and Alaska, p. 125; fall, 1997, review of Disappearing Lake, p. 347; spring, 1998, review of A Polar Bear Journey, p. 134; fall, 2001, review of A Woolly Mammoth Journey, p. 359

Instructor, April, 1995, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 57.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2002, review of Are Trees Alive?, p. 419; October 1, 2002, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 1476; June 1, 2003, review of Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, p. 808.

Language Arts, February, 1996, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 145.

Library Journal, February 15, 1990, J. Nickum, review of Midnight Wilderness: Journeys into Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, p. 210.

Library Media Connection, March, 2003, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 96; February, 2004, review of Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, p. 59.

New Scientist, November 19, 1994, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 54.

New York Times Book Review, November 17, 2002, Andrew Leonard, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 34.

Reading Teacher, April, 1998, review of Disappearing Lake, p. 595; November, 1998, review of Disappearing Lake, p. 274; May, 2001, review of River of Life, p. 829; November, 2003, review of Are Trees Alive?, p. 272.

School Librarian, May, 1995, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 65.

School Library Journey, October, 1994, Roz Goodman, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 112; October, 1997, Ellen M. Riordan, review of A Polar Bear Journey, p. 120; June, 2001, Margaret Bush, review of A Woolly Mammoth Journey, p. 140; November, 2002, Susan Oliver, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 130; August, 2003, Patricia Manning, review of Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights, p. 183; December, 2003, Kathleen Baxter, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 41.

Science Books & Films, January, 2002, review of A Woolly Mammoth Journey, p. 326; May, 2003, review of Are Trees Alive?, p. 11.

Science Teacher, March, 1991, Richard Thomas, review of Midnight Wilderness, p. 65; March, 2004, "Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12," pp. 57-64.

Social Education, May, 2003, review of The Great Serum Race, p. 11.

Wilderness, summer, 1990, T. Watkins, review of Midnight Wilderness, p. 60; spring, 1995, review of A Caribou Journey, p. 33.