Writing mysteries for young people

by Joan Lowery Nixon

Book by Nixon, Joan Lowery

123 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Author of more than one hundred books, Joan Lowery Nixon is the only writer to have won four Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Juvenile Mysteries (and been nominated several other times) from the Mystery Writers of America. Creating contemporary teenage characters who have both a personal problem and a mystery to solve, Nixon captured the attention of legions of teenage readers since the publication of her first YA novel more than twenty years ago. In addition to mystery/suspense novels, she wrote nonfiction and fiction for children and middle graders, as well as several short stories. Nixon was the first person to write novels for teens about the orphan trains of the nineteenth century. She followed those with historical novels about Ellis Island and, more recently for younger readers, Colonial Williamsburg. Joan Lowery Nixon died on June 28, 2003—a great loss for all of us.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the few widely-available references on middle-grade mystery novels, and it's an illuminating read for those who are fans of Nixon's or who just enjoy a good mystery. I used this as a reference source for a graduate thesis and found it wonderful not only as an academic resource or a writer's guide, but as insight into how Nixon constructed her books. It's a great legacy for one of the best middle-grade mystery writers of all time!