Spradlin, Michael P.

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Spradlin, Michael P.

PERSONAL:

Born in MI; married; wife's name Kelly; children: Michael and Rachel.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—P.O. Box 863, Lapeer, MI 48446. Agent—Chudney Agency, 750 Kappock St., Ste. 808, Riverdale, NY 10463. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Edgar Award nomination for best young adult mystery, Mystery Writers of America, for Live and Let Shop.

WRITINGS:

(Compiler and editor, with Carolyn M. Clark) Detroit, the Renaissance City, introduction by Elmore Leonard, photography by Balthazar Korab, Thomasson-Grant (Charlottesville, VA), 1986.

The Legend of Blue Jacket, illustrated by Ronald Himler, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

"SPY GODDESS" SERIES

Live and Let Shop, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

To Hawaii, with Love, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Michael P. Spradlin is a Michigan-born writer who primarily pens children's books. In 2002 Spradlin published The Legend of Blue Jacket, hypothesizing that the late-eighteenth-century Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket was actually Marmaduke van Swearingen, the missing son of a Virginia farmer. Reviews were mixed for Spradlin's debut children's book. Linda Perkins's review in Booklist commented that Spradlin "raises an interesting question" with the topic of the book, which includes "good supplementary material." A critic in Kirkus Reviews, mentioning the visual aids in the book, found that "the text reads nicely, though it is long and unvarying." In a School Library Journal review, Dona Ratterree wrote that "the author glosses over the essential story" but also conceded that "this book is clearly a wellresearched labor of love."

In 2005 Spradlin published two books in his "Spy Goddess" series. The first, Live and Let Shop, introduces fifteen-year-old Rebecca Buchanan, a Beverly Hills girl who is sent off to a most unusual boarding school, one headed by a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent. Rebecca learns of a sinister plot as her teacher goes missing and, with a few friends, tries to prevent Mithras from apprehending the Book of Seraphim.. Cindy Welch, in a Booklist review, assuredly stated that "boys as well as girls will be attracted to" Live and Let Shop. In a School Library Journal review, Leigh Ann Morlock said that "Spradlin captures the perfect teenage voice in his protagonist … [in this] intelligent, exciting mystery that will have broad appeal."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 2002, Linda Perkins, review of The Legend of Blue Jacket, p. 489; March 1, 2005, Cindy Welch, review of Live and Let Shop, p. 1186; May 1, 2006, Cindy Welch, review of To Hawaii, with Love, p. 82.

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2002, review of The Legend of Blue Jacket, p. 1702; February 1, 2005, review of Live and Let Shop, p. 182; December 15, 2005, review of To Hawaii, with Love, p. 1328.

School Library Journal, November, 2002, Dona Ratterree, review of The Legend of Blue Jacket, p. 150; March, 2005, Leigh Ann Morlock, review of Live and Let Shop, p. 220.