O'Neill, Alexis 1949-

views updated

O'Neill, Alexis 1949-

PERSONAL: Born 1949; married; husband's name, David. Education: Skidmore College, B.S.; Syracuse University, M.S., Ph.D. Hobbies and other interests: "Reading, painting, sewing, Irish songs, country music, musicals, and crafting."

ADDRESSES: Home—Simi Valley, CA. Office—UCLA Extension Writers' Program, 10995 Le Conte Ave., Room 440, Los Angeles, CA 90024-2883. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Elementary schoolteacher; University of California, Los Angeles, Extension Writers' Program, instructor. Educational consultant for various museums, including J. Paul Getty Museum, Everson Museum of Art, and Erie Canal Museum.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (regional advisor), Children's Authors Network (founding member), Simi Valley Friends of the Library, Ventura County Reading Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Rosemary Foundation fellow; The Recess Queen was a Junior Library Guild selection.

WRITINGS:

Loud Emily (for children), illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1998.

The Recess Queen (for children), illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Estela's Swap (for children), illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez, Lee & Low Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Also author of Syracuse: The Heart of New York, Syracuse Grows Up: A Local History for Young People, and California Classroom: A Learning Link to the Ventura County Museum of History and Art. Contributor to periodicals, including Cricket, Cobblestone, and Children's Book Review.

SIDELIGHTS: Children's author Alexis O'Neill writes stories that feature young girls who defy expectations. Loud Emily, O'Neill's first book, tells the tale of a girl born into a genteel family in the nineteenth century. While Emily's booming voice continually upsets the tranquility of her very proper parents, although she finds happiness among the servants, who appreciate a girl who speaks up. To avoid being sent to a school that cultivates soft-spoken young ladies, Emily runs away to sea, where she finds people who appreciate her ability to call all hands on deck and her talent for singing wild songs that attract whales. When a storm damages a lighthouse, Emily saves the day by booming out warnings to passing ships. "By the end, everyone moves in step to Emily's command: the servants in the house, the sailors on the ship, and the whales in the sea," noted Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman. "In her picture book debut, O'Neill crafts a charmer with the spirit of a tall tale," asserted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

The Recess Queen pits one strong-minded girl against another. Mean Jean is used to getting her way, stomping her way around the playground and pushing around the other children. Nobody gets to use a ball or a bat without Jean's say-so. But when Katie Sue shows up, oblivious to Mean Jean's many rules, there is a dramatic change on the playground. When the new girl asks to skip rope with the dreaded bully, Jean is stunned that somebody actually wants to play with her, but eventually joins in the fun. "Thus she is transformed into a likable character at the end of the story, now surrounded by friends on the blacktop rather than foes," explained Lisa Gangemi Krapp in the School Library Journal. O'Neill's "text brims with fun-to-say phrases that fit a rollicking rhythm, and her assessment of recess dynamics feels authentic," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman found that "the physicalness of the words makes the wild nonsense rhyme great for reading aloud and joining in."

A subtler transformation takes place in Estela's Swap. Young Estela dreams of taking dancing lessons, so she accompanies her father to a swap meet in the hope of selling her music box and using the money for the lessons. Across the way is an old woman, a paper flower seller who is making a beautiful skirt Estela knows would be perfect for dancing. The other vendor seems to be enjoying the music coming from Estela's music box, but she shows no inclination to actually buy it. Suddenly, a strong wind throws everything into chaos, overturning tables and ruining the poor flower seller's wares. In an act of supreme generosity, the little girl gives the old woman the music box, so she can listen to it while she makes more flowers. Deeply touched, the old woman gives her the beautiful skirt at the end of the day. Overall, Booklist reviewer Gillian Engberg found it "a warm, nicely paced story about sharing and bartering that's filled with sensory descriptions of the vibrant open market."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Loud Emily, p. 428; March 1, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of The Recess Queen, p. 1143; December 15, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Estela's Swap, p. 768.

Childhood Education, fall, 2002, Jeannie Burnett, review of The Recess Queen, p. 52.

Instructor, August, 2002, "Meet the Author: Alexis O'Neill," p. 68.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001, review of The Recess Queen, p. 176; August 1, 2002, review of Estela's Swap, p. 1139.

Newsweek, November 30, 1998, "The Wild Things," p. 72.

Publishers Weekly, September 28, 1998, review of Loud Emily, p. 100; January 21, 2002, review of The Recess Queen, p. 89.

School Library Journal, March, 2002, Lisa Gangemi Krapp, review of The Recess Queen, p. 198; October, 2002, Marge Loch-Wouters, review of Estela's Swap, p. 124; July, 2004, review of The Recess Queen, p. 43.