Johnston, Jeffry W.

PERSONAL:

Married; children: one son.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Broomall, PA. Agent—Scott Treimell, 434 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Fiction writer, columnist, and journalist. Globe Times, Bethlehem, PA, former feature writer and reviewer.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

AWARDS, HONORS:

Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination for Best Young-Adult Novel, and YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers designation, both 2008, both for Fragments.

WRITINGS:

Fragments, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2007.

Author of numerous short stories for children and adults. Contributor of film and theatre reviews to periodicals; author of monthly column for Rodale, Inc.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jeffry W. Johnston is a freelance writer and journalist based in Pennsylvania. A former staff writer for the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Globe Times, and a columnist for Rodale, Inc., publishers, Johnston has also written a great deal of short fiction, including stories in the horror, mystery, and fantasy genres. His first young-adult novel, Fragments, was published in 2007 and a year later was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young-Adult Novel by the Mystery Writers of America.

Fragments focuses on Chase Farrell, a high school student whose life turned upside down after the night he became the lone survivor of a car accident that killed three of his friends. Because his memories of the events of that fateful night are gone, Chase is haunted by guilt and fear. When the memories start to return, as flashbacks, they bring with them visions so terrible that he is soon haunted by new fears. As narrated by Chase, Johnston's novel brings to life the teen's torment through what Kliatt critic Jay Wise described as "short, staccato chapters" that build suspense. Chase is "the quintessential unreliable narrator," Wise added, noting that Fragments would serve as "powerful bibliotherapy" for older teens wrestling with dysfunctional or abusive relationships.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2007, Karen Coats, review of Fragments, p. 332.

Kliatt, January, 2007, Jay Wise, review of Fragments, p. 23.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2007, Rollie Welch, review of Fragments, p. 526.

ONLINE

Jeffry W. Johnston Home Page,http://jeffrywjohnston.com (February 15, 2008).