Katherine Paterson

Author profile

born

in Qing Jiang, China

October 31, 1932

gender

female

website

http://www.terabithia.com

genre

Children's Books

influences

Evelyn Husband

About this author

edit data

From author's website:

People are always asking me questions I don't have answers for. One is, "When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?" The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. Today I want very much to be a writer. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. When I was twenty, I wanted to get married and have lots of children.

Another question I can't answer is, "When did you begin writing?" I can't remember. I know I began reading when I was four or five, because I couldn't stand not being able to. I must have tried writing soon afterward. Fortunately, very few samples of my early writing survived the eighteen moves I made before...more From author's website:

People are always asking me questions I don't have answers for. One is, "When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?" The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. Today I want very much to be a writer. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. When I was twenty, I wanted to get married and have lots of children.

Another question I can't answer is, "When did you begin writing?" I can't remember. I know I began reading when I was four or five, because I couldn't stand not being able to. I must have tried writing soon afterward. Fortunately, very few samples of my early writing survived the eighteen moves I made before I was eighteen years old. I say fortunately, because the samples that did manage to survive are terrible, with the single exception of a rather nice letter I wrote to my father when I was seven. We were living in Shanghai, and my father was working in our old home territory, which at the time was across various battle lines. I missed him very much, and in telling him so, I managed a piece of writing I am not ashamed of to this day.

A lot has happened to me since I wrote that letter. The following year, we had to refugee a second time because war between Japan and the United States seemed inevitable. During World War II, we lived in Virginia and North Carolina, and when our family's return to China was indefinitely postponed, we moved to various towns in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, before my parents settled in Winchester, Virginia.

By that time, I was ready to begin college. I spent four years at King College in Bristol, Tennessee, doing what I loved best-reading English and American literature-and avoiding math whenever possible.

My dream of becoming a movie star never came true, but I did a lot of acting all through school, and the first writing for which I got any applause consisted of plays I wrote for my sixth-grade friends to act out.

On the way to becoming a missionary, I spent a year teaching in a rural school in northern Virginia, where almost all my children were like Jesse Aarons. I'll never forget that wonderful class. A teacher I once met at a meeting in Virginia told me that when she read Bridge to Terabithia to her class, one of the girls told her that her mother had been in that Lovettsville sixth grade. I am very happy that those children, now grown up with children of their own, know about the book. I hope they can tell by reading it how much they meant to me.

After Lovettsville, I spent two years in graduate school in Richmond, Virginia, studying Bible and Christian education; then I went to Japan. My childhood dream was, of course, to be a missionary to China and eat Chinese food three times a day. But China was closed to Americans in 1957, and a Japanese friend urged me to go to Japan instead. I remembered the Japanese as the enemy. They were the ones who dropped the bombs and then occupied the towns where I had lived as a child. I was afraid of the Japanese, and so I hated them. But my friend persuaded me to put aside those childish feelings and give myself a chance to view the Japanese in a new way.

If you've read my early books, you must know that I came to love Japan and feel very much at home there. I went to language school, and lived and worked in that country for four years. I had every intention of spending the rest of my life among the Japanese. But when I returned to the States for a year of study in New York, I met a young Presbyterian pastor who changed the direction of my life once again. We were married in 1962.

I suppose my life as a writer really began in 1964. The Presbyterian church asked me to write some curriculum materials for fifth- and sixth-graders. Since the church had given me a scholarship to study and I had married instead of going back to work in Japan, I felt I owed them something for their m(less)

combine editions
Katherine Paterson's Books

Average rating: 3.87 · 198,673 ratings · 8,505 reviews · 74 distinct works · Similar authors

	Bridge to Terabithia 3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 164,283 ratings — published 1977 — 79 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jacob Have I Loved 3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 14,951 ratings — published 1980 — 41 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Great Gilly Hopkins 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 8,516 ratings — published 1978 — 33 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lyddie 3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 2,579 ratings — published 1991 — 26 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson, Haru Wells (Illustrator) 3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 985 ratings — published 1975 — 12 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bread and Roses, Too 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 931 ratings — published 2006 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Same Stuff as Stars 3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 670 ratings — published 2002 — 11 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Flint Heart by Katherine Paterson, John Paterson, John Rocco (Illustrator) 3.37 of 5 stars 3.37 avg rating — 585 ratings — published 2011 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jip: His Story 3.53 of 5 stars 3.53 avg rating — 552 ratings — published 1996 — 13 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Day of the Pelican 3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 451 ratings — published 2009 — 11 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Katherine Paterson…

Upcoming Events

No scheduled events. Add an event.

Quotes by Katherine Paterson

“Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.”
― Katherine Paterson

150 people liked it

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read;
we have to give them something worth reading.
Something that will stretch their imaginations-
something that will help them make sense of their own lives
and encourage them to reach out toward people
whose lives are quite different from their own.”
― Katherine Paterson

94 people liked it

“It was up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and strength. ”
― Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia

74 people liked it

See all Katherine Paterson's quotes »

Polls

What Book Shall We Read in November?

I have chosen books that are getting a lot of attention and were published in September and October. Please let me know if you think a book should be added to the list.

If you get the chance, check and see what your library has before you vote.

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter

10 votes 37.0%

Storyteller by Patricia Reilly Giff

4 votes 14.8%

The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby

4 votes 14.8%

What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb

2 votes 7.4%

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst

2 votes 7.4%

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

2 votes 7.4%

The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

2 votes 7.4%

The Memory Bank by Carolyn Coman

1 vote 3.7%

27 total votes

4 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: OFFICIAL SPRING CHALLENGE - 2009	6462	8064	Jun 14, 2009 02:57pm
The Next Best Boo...: OFFICIAL SUMMER CHALLENGE 2009	6756	10249	Aug 31, 2009 10:23pm
Wild Things: YA G...: YA Reading Challenge #2 - Tasks and Discussion	216	464	Oct 02, 2009 03:31pm
Wild Things: YA G...: YA Reading Challenge #2 Report Points Here	305	312	Nov 04, 2009 01:49pm
Pick-a-Shelf: Polly's One Shelf Down	4	35	Dec 08, 2009 09:44am
100+ Books in 2013: Susan's 100+ Reading Challenge	93	303	Dec 30, 2009 02:32pm
The Next Best Boo...: JG's 2009 Reading List	30	325	Jan 10, 2010 10:30pm
The Newbery Award...: 1978 Medal Winner - Bridge to Terabithia	1	4	Feb 07, 2010 02:57pm

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Katherine to Goodreads.

Katherine's Fans (434)

Katherine Paterson

Author profile

combine editionsKatherine Paterson's Books

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Katherine Paterson

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

combine editions
Katherine Paterson's Books