J. K. Rowling

Children's Literature

J. K. Rowling is a biography from a series called "Children's Authors." Cari Meister has written several of them for ABDO Publishing Company. Close-up photographs of the authors are on the book covers. The series focuses on well-known and popular authors. The information is presented in short books (24 pages) and divided into chapters. There is an introduction of the author followed in a first chapter of the author's early life. Other chapters talk about how the author become a writer, what obstacles she faced and where she is today. Little known and interesting information is woven into the book. For example, J. K. Rowling, the popular author of the Harry Potter books, was not considered a good student in her early years. She went to college and worked as a teacher and secretary, but her real ambition was to become a writer. She married and had a daughter. She divorced, tried to work, but had to go on welfare in order to stay home with her daughter. She worked on the first Harry Potter book in a cafe while her daughter slept by her side. Today, J. K. Rowling, (her first name is Joanne) is a millionaire. She has written four Potter books with three more to go. Meister does a nice, neat job of presenting a worldwide-popular children's writer. The illustrations are color and black-and-white photographs. 2001, ABDO, $19.92. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Della Yannuzzi