Prinz, Yvonne 1960-

Personal

Born March 15, 1960, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; daughter of John Hermans (a musician) and Louise Osborn; married David Prinz (a record store owner).

Addresses

Home—San Francisco, CA. Agent—Sarah Cooper, Saint Agency, 18 Gloucester Ln., Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1C5, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Author Amoeba Music (record store), San Francisco, CA, co-founder, with husband, c. 1990.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Canadian Writer's Union.

Awards, Honors

International Board on Books for Young People Award nomination, Red Cedar Award nomination, and Book Sense listee, all for Still There, Clare.

Writings

Still There, Clare, Raincoast Books (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2004.

Not Fair, Clare, Raincoast Books (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2007.

Double Dare, Clare, Raincoast Books (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), forthcoming.

Contributor to Chicken Soup for the Kids' Soul II, 2006.

Sidelights

Yvonne Prinz began writing short stories at age six, and dreamed of becoming a novelist while she was growing up in Canada. With Still There, Clare Prinz's dream came true, and the adventures of her engaging middle-grade fictional heroine continue in Not Fair Clare and Double Dare, Clare. Praising Prinz for possessing "wit, originality, and a flare for engaging the reader from first page to last," a Children's Bookwatch contributor cited Still There, Clare as a "superbly crafted and highly recommended" middle-grade novel.

As readers meet Clare, it is summertime and the seventh grader finds herself at a loss for friends: best buddy Paul has to spend the summer at his grandparents' home. Even worse, her beloved Aunt Rusty has done the unthinkable and starts dating Clare's gym teacher—who Clare also happens to be in love with. Realizing that she is at a crossroads, the girl decides that she is also getting too old to associate with her most loyal friend, the stylish, witty, and globetrotting Elsa. After all, Elsa is imaginary, and Clare, at age thirteen, is too old for such things. Going solo, Clare struggles to make new friends and grapples with the fact that her formerly often-at-work mom has now become an ever-present stay-at-home. In School Library Journal, Linda Zeilstra Sawyer cited the novel's "combination of humor, sadness, and preteen angst," while Olivia Durant wrote in Kliatt that "Clare's voice rings true, and the situations she finds herself in are realistic and funny." Prinz's "breezy" fiction debut "succeeds on many levels," Chris Sherman wrote of Still There, Clare in his review for Booklist; "it's funny … [and] the characters, including the adults, are appealing and interesting."

On her home page, Prinz explained that by writing about her spunky main character, Clare has become almost a real person to her. "I love to give her new experiences and new friends and obstacles to deal with," the author added. "When I set out to write Still There, Clare, I wanted to put out a book unlike most of the books I'd seen out there for young girls. I wanted to create something real and funny and warm and quirky."

"When I put a new book out there, it's like sending a child out into the world for the first time," Prinz added. "I get very nervous and I hope that everyone loves my characters like I do. Writing is rather a lonely occupation, but when I get an email from a reader, I feel like I'm connecting with the world in a small but wonderful way."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2005, Chris Sherman, review of Still There, Clare, p. 1198.

Children's Bookwatch, November, 2005, review of Still There, Clare.

Canadian Review of Materials, March 18, 2005, Janice Weaver, review of Still There, Clare.

Kliatt, September, 2005, Olivia Durant, review of Still There, Clare, p. 22.

Resource Links, February, 2005, Teresa Hughes, review of Still There, Clare, p. 39.

School Library Journal, April, 2005, Linda Zeilstra Sawyer, review of Still There, Clare, p. 140.

ONLINE

Writers Union Web site,http://www.writersunion.ca/ (December 27, 2006), "Yvonne Prinz." Yvonne Prinz Home Page,http://www.stillthereclare.com (December 27, 2006).