Lombard, Jenny

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Lombard, Jenny

Personal

Female.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY.

Career

Author and playwright. Worked previously as a screenwriter and a comedy writer for Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

Writings

How to Stay Single Forever: 101 Foolproof Female Strategies Guaranteed to Send 'Em Packing, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Drita, My Homegirl (children's novel), G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 2006.

PLAYS

Radio: Wild Passionate Horseman (play), produced in New York, NY, 1989.

Author of plays produced in New York, NY, including Essence of Mangrovia, produced 1989.

Sidelights

Jenny Lombard began her writing career as a playwright, and also created scripts for film and television. After writing a tongue-in-cheek dating guide titled How

to Stay Single Forever: 101 Foolproof Female Strategies Guaranteed to Send 'Em Packing, Lombard moved to a younger audience with Drita, My Homegirl. Lombard's children's novel centers on two fourth-grade classmates who, as the story begins, have more than a few differences. As Lombard's story unfolds, however, she reveals that, under those differences, the girls actually have much in common. For ten-year-old Drita, her first day at an American school is cause for excitement, but as a refugee from Kosovo she finds that her eastern European accent and habits make her stand out from her new American classmates. One of Drita's new tormenters is Maxie, an African-American girl who, unknown to her schoolmates, is struggling to deal with the recent death of her mother. By alternating the narration between Drita and Maxie as their relationship develops, readers come to see the many things that the two girls share.

In assessing Drita, My Homegirl, several critics cited Lombard's skill in bringing to life a relationship that centers on cultural adaptation, friendship, and loss. A critic for Kirkus Reviews described the novel as a "deft representation of immigration and multicultural friendship." "Maxie's slang-riddled voice comes across credibly," a Publishers Weekly reviewer commented of the complex narrative, although adding that "passages representing Drita's thoughts sometimes seem stiff or awkward." Susan Oliver, reviewing the novel for School Library Journal, ultimately viewed the story favorably, writing that in Drita, My Homegirl Lombard successfully encapsulates two tales: one embodies "the bravery of an individual determined to become part of her new country" while the other brings to life a girl "who is trying too hard to disguise her pain."