Weeks, Sarah 1955–

views updated

Weeks, Sarah 1955–

PERSONAL:

Born March 18, 1955, in Ann Arbor, MI; children: Gabe, Nat. Education: Hampshire College, B.A.; New York University, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Singer, songwriter, and children's book author. Member of adjunct faculty, New School University, New York, NY; presenter at schools and libraries.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Texas Bluebonnet Award finalist, 2000, for Regular Guy; Best Book for Young Adults designation, American Library Association, and Parents' Choice Gold Award, both 2005, both for So B. It; Charlotte Zolotow Award for highly recommended title, 2006, for Overboard!

WRITINGS:

PICTURE BOOKS

Hurricane City, illustrated by James Warhola, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

Follow the Moon, illustrated by Suzanne Duranceau, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

Red Ribbon, illustrated by Jeffrey Greene, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Noodles, illustrated by David A. Carter, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 1996.

(And vocalist) Little Factory (includes CD), animation by Byron Barton, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Splish, Splash!, illustrated by Ashley Wolff, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Piece of Jungle, illustrated by Suzanne Duranceau, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Happy Birthday, Frankie, illustrated by Warren Linn, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Drip, Drop, illustrated by Jane Manning, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2000.

Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, HarperFestival (New York, NY), 2000.

Bite Me, I'm a Shape, illustrated by Jef Kaminsky, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.

Bite Me, I'm a Book, illustrated by Jef Kaminsky, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.

My Somebody Special, illustrated by Ashley Wolff, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.

Angel Face, illustrated by David Diaz, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2002.

Oh My Gosh, Mrs. McNosh!, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Two Eggs, Please, illustrated by Betsy Lewin, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2003.

(And vocalist) Without You (includes CD), illustrated by Suzanne Duranceau, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2003.

(And vocalist) Crocodile Smile: Ten Songs of the Earth as the Animals See It (songbook; includes CD), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

If I Were a Lion, illustrated by Heather M. Solomon, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2004.

Paper Parade, illustrated by Ed Briant, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2004.

Baa-Choo!, illustrated by Jane Manning, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

I'm a Pig, illustrated by Holly Berry, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Who's under That Hat? (lift-the-flap book), illustrated by David A. Carter, Harcourt (New York, NY), 2005.

Ruff! Ruff! Where's Scruff? (lift-the-flap book), illustrated by David A. Carter, Harcourt (New York, NY), 2005.

Overboard!, illustrated by Sam Williams, Harcourt (New York, NY), 2006.

Counting Ovejas, illustrated by David Diaz, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2006.

Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Ella, of Course!, illustrated by Doug Cushman, Harcourt (New York, NY), 2007.

Peek in My Pocket (lift-the-flap book), illustrated by David A. Carter, Harcourt (New York, NY), 2007.

Pip Squeak, illustrated by Jane Manning, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Bunny Fun, illustrated by Sam Williams, Harcourt (New York, NY), 2008.

The Brass Bone, illustrated by Holly Berry, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2008.

Catfish Kate, illustrated by Elwood Smith, Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2009.

Mac and Cheese, illustrated by Jane Manning, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2010.

NOVELS

So B. It (novel), Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Beware of Mad Dog ("Boyds Will Be Boyds" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

Get Well Soon, or Else! ("Boyds Will Be Boyds" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

Danger! Boys Dancing ("Boyds Will Be Boyds" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2005.

Fink's Funk ("Boyds Will Be Boyds" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2005.

Jumping the Scratch (novel), Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Oggie Cooder, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2008.

"GUY" NOVEL SERIES

Regular Guy, Laura Gerlinger Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Guy Time, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2000.

My Guy, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Guy Wire, Laura Geringer Books (New York, NY), 2002.

ADAPTATIONS:

My Guy was adapted as a feature film by Disney Studios.

SIDELIGHTS:

A former singer and songwriter, Sarah Weeks is the author of picture books, illustrated songbooks, and middle-grade novels such as her "Guy" series. Picture books such as Crocodile Smile: Ten Songs of the Earth as the Animals See It, Follow the Moon, and Without You include recordings of her vocal performances, while Two Eggs, Please, Bunny Fun, and I'm a Pig feature lyrical rhyming texts and engaging artwork by illustrators such as Jane Manning, Holly Berry, David Diaz, Sam Williams, and Doug Cushman. Praising Weeks's "inventive" story for If I Were a Lion, a Kirkus Reviews contributor cited the book's "tremendous read-aloud possibilities," while in Booklist Abby Nolan dubbed the text of Bunny Fun "bouncy and sweet."

Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash is one of several picture-book collaborations between Weeks and artist Nadine Bernard Westcott. Another picture book, My Somebody Special, tells an "ultimately reassuring tale" that focuses on young children's worries over attending nursery school, according to Booklist contributor Julie Cummins. Paired with art by Ashley Wolff, Weeks's story follows an animal cast as each creature waits for the arrival of their "somebody special" at the end of the school day. In Angel Face a young boy wanders off while picking blackberries with his mother, prompting an aerial search by Old Crow. In Kirkus Reviews a contributor praised Angel Face as "a tribute to the unique beauty of every child," while in Booklist Ilene Cooper noted that the "evocative text and storybook images [by illustrator Diaz] touch the heart."

Other picture books by Weeks include Overboard and Bunny Fun, both which feature Williams's soft-toned pastel art. In Overboard a bunny and mouse learn about gravity by watching an assortment of objects fall, topple, and slide from high places. Bunny Fun finds the two animal friends spending a play day indoors, where dress-up games and pillow fights are a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon. In Publishers Weekly a reviewer dubbed Overboard a "chipper, well-observed book," while Linda M. Kenton wrote in School Library Journal that Bunny Fun provides "a winning choice for story-times." Even more rambunctious fare is served up by Weeks in I'm a Pig, described by a Publishers Weekly critic as "an exuberant, insouciant and sublimely silly paean that brings to mind Monty Python in a less naughty moment." Weeks also appeals to those in need of a soothing bedtime tale in Counting Ovejas, in which Dias illustrated a bilingual story about a boy who counts a flock of colorful sheep.

Weeks introduces eleven-year-old Guy Strang in Regular Guy, the first book in her popular "Guy" series. Suffering the classic teen frustration of uncooperative and totally-not-with-it, hippy-era parents, Guy becomes convinced that he is actually adopted. When a nerdy schoolmate is discovered to have been born on the same day and in the same hospital, Guy decides to check the other boy's parents out, hoping for a neonatal ward mismatch. The story's "lessons in understanding emerge lightly" according to a Horn Book contributor, while in Publishers Weekly a reviewer wrote that "the climactic showdown is a virtual chain reaction of buffoonery."

Guy's frustrations mount in Guy Time, when his parents separate, his dad moves out of state, and the teen is left with a mom who has started dating again. With the help of best friend and coconspirator Buzz, Guy begins a letter-writing campaign that, while not causing his parents to reunite, at least brings his father closer. Meanwhile, Guy begins to have romance problems of his own in a novel that School Library Journal reviewer Terrie Dorio wrote "captures the intense feeling" of a young teen "trying to deal with the process of growing up." In Publishers Weekly a reviewer called Guy Time "simultaneously funny and poignant," while Booklist contributor Chris Sherman praised Weeks's novel as "a satisfying, funny story."

In My Guy, Guy's mom becomes engaged to the totally unacceptable: a professional clown who is also the father of the meanest girl in Guy's school. Guy Wire finds fourteen-year-old Guy in the hospital, visiting friend Buzz following a bicycling accident and learning about the true value of friendship. Reviewing Guy Wire in Booklist, Francisca Goldsmith commended Weeks for her ability to balance a "realistic and cheerful" text with a story line that "will give thoughtful readers much to ponder."

Other middle-grade novels by Weeks includes So B. It, which finds twelve-year-old Heidi living with her mentally disabled mother in a tiny apartment. The pair is watched over by a housebound and caring neighbor named Bernadette. When Heidi begins to question how circumstances brought her and her mom to this sad place, she finds some old photographs that prompt her to search for information about her family. Her journey takes her from her home in Nevada all the way to Liberty, New York, where she "relies on her luck, instinct, and the people she meets on the way," according to School Library Journal reviewer Martha B. Salvadore. In Horn Book Kitty Flynn called So B. It a "well-told story tinged with loss," while Debbie Carton praised Weeks's prose in Booklist as "lovely writing—real, touching, and pared cleanly down to the essentials."

In Jumping the Scratch fifth grader Jamie Reardon lives with his mom and Aunt Sapphy in Sapphy's trailer now that his father has abandoned the family. A brain injury has caused Sapphy to lose her short-term memory, and the daily re-explanation as to why he and his mom are now living in his aunt's home in northern Michigan gives an offbeat air to an otherwise-sad situation. When a new friend at the trailer park hypnotizes Jamie, she unlocks a recent memory that, while causing him distress, ultimately helps the preteen heal the mind of his caring aunt. Citing Weeks's "well drawn" characters and a plot that sensitively deals with sexual abuse, Booklist critic Ilene Cooper predicted that readers of Jumping the Scratch will "applaud the … well-deserved triumphs" of Jamie and his family, and a Kirkus Reviews contributor dubbed the novel "a powerful story of a child's pain."

Featuring an offbeat protagonist, Oggie Cooder draws readers into Oggie's unique world, where the taunts and criticism of fellow fourth graders have little effect. Oggie marches to a different drummer, and his favorite pastimes includes a kind of nibble art he calls charving—using small bites to reshape slices of American cheese into the various United States. When charving draws the interest of a television talent show, Oggie suddenly gains in popularity, and aggressive classmate Donnica Perfecto pushes the reluctant boy toward television stardom. In Oggie Cooder Weeks "delivers a funny and fast-paced story," concluded Booklist contributor Todd Morning, and in Kirkus Reviews, a reviewer praised the story's "gentle humor" and added that "many characters will be familiar to young readers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 1994, Carolyn Phelan, review of Crocodile Smile: Ten Songs of the Earth as the Animals See It, p. 675; April 15, 1998, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash, p. 1455; March 15, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of Splish, Splash!, p. 1339; January 1, 2000, Michael Cart, review of Happy Birthday, Frankie, p. 938; July, 2000, Gillian Engberg, review of Drip, Drop, p. 2046; August, 2000, Chris Sherman, review of Guy Time, p. 2142; October 1, 2000, Gillian Engberg, review of Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash, p. 350; August, 2001, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of My Guy, p. 2123; February 1, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Angel Face, p. 946; May 1, 2002, Shelly Townsend-Warner, review of Oh My Gosh, Mrs. McNosh!, p. 1537; August, 2002, Francisca Goldsmith, review of Guy Wire, p. 1965, and Julie Cummins, review of My Somebody Special, p. 1977; March 15, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of If I Were a Lion, p. 1311; June 1, 2004, Debbie Carton, review of So B. It, p. 1731; August, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Baa-Choo!, p. 1946; February 1, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of Jumping the Scratch, p. 51; February 15, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Overboard!, p. 106; June 1, 2006, Linda Perkins, review of Counting Ovejas, p. 90; January 1, 2008, Todd Morning, review of Oggie Cooder, p. 82; February 15, 2008, Abby Nolan, review of Bunny Fun, p. 87.

Horn Book, May, 1999, review of Regular Guy, p. 340; May, 2000, review of Guy Time, p. 323; July, 2001, review of My Guy, p. 462; July-August, 2004, Lolly Robinson, review of Paper Parade, p. 443, and Kitty Flynn, review of So B. It, p. 462; January-February, 2005, Martha V. Parravano, review of Baa-Choo!, p. 99; July-August, 2007, Betty Carter, review of Pip Squeak, p. 406.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2002, review of Angel Face, p. 347; April 1, 2002, review of My Somebody Special and Oh, My Gosh, Mrs. McNosh!, p. 501; September 15, 2003, review of Without You, p. 1184; February 1, 2004, review of If I Were a Lion, p. 139; April 15, 2004, review of Paper Parade, p. 402; May 15, 2004, review of So B. It, p. 499; May 1, 2005, review of I'm a Pig, p. 549; February 15, 2006, review of Overboard!, p. 191; April 15, 2006, review of Jumping the Scratch, p. 418; July 1, 2006, review of Counting Ovejas, p. 683; March 1, 2007, review of Ella, of Course!, p. 233; June 15, 2007, review of Bunny Fun; January 1, 2008, review of Oggie Cooder.

Kliatt, May, 2004, Claire Rosser, review of So B. It, p. 15.

Publishers Weekly, August 15, 1994, review of Crocodile Smile, p. 27; June 19, 1995, review of Follow the Moon, p. 26; July 24, 1995, review of Red Ribbon, p. 64; November 23, 1998, review of Little Factory, p. 65; June 21, 1999, review of Regular Guy, p. 68; August 2, 1999, review of Happy Birthday Frankie, p. 82; December 20, 1999, interview with Weeks, p. 23; June 19, 2000, review of Guy Time, p. 80; February 11, 2002, review of Angel Face, p. 185; April 15, 2002, review of My Somebody Special, p. 62; November 17, 2003, review of Without You, p. 62; May 3, 2004, review of So B. It, p. 190; May 30, 2005, review of I'm a Pig, p. 59.

School Library Journal, June, 2000, Terrie Dorio, review of Guy Time, p. 155; September, 2000, Martha Topol, review of Drip, Drop, p. 211; December, 2000, Adele Greenlee, review of Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash, p. 127; May, 2001, Linda Binder, review of My Guy, p. 160; May, 2002, Lisa Dennis, review of My Somebody Special, p. 130; June, 2002, Faith Brautigam, review of Oh My Gosh, Mrs. McNosh!, p. 114; September, 2002, Be Astengo, review of Guy Wire, p. 236; October, 2003, Lauralyn Persson, review of Without You, p. 141; April, 2004, Laurie Edwards, review of If I Were a Lion, p. 126; June, 2004, Roxanne Burg, review of Paper Parade, and Donna Marie Wagner, review of Two Eggs, Please, p. 121; July, 2004, Maria B. Salvadore, review of So B. It, p. 114; May, 2005, Robin L. Gibson, review of I'm a Pig, p. 103; April, 2006, Martha Topol, review of Overboard!, p. 120; May, 2006, Connie Tyrrell Burns, review of Jumping the Scratch, p. 138; June, 2006, Maria Otero-Buisvert, review of Counting Ovejas, p. 145; March, 2007, Kathleen Whalin, review of Ella, of Course!, p. 189; December, 2007, Linda M. Kenton, review of Bunny Fun, p. 102; February, 2008, Melinda Piehler, review of Pip Squeak, p. 98; March, 2008, Kathleen Meulen, review of Oggie Cooder, p. 179.