A report by Naomi MIller Author study project A report by Naomi MIller

About Joan Bauer Joan Bauer was born on July 12, 1951 and is now 66 years old. She was born in River Forest, Illinois but now lives in New York City with her husband Doug Langham. She has written 13 novels over her time as a writer. During her writing she has won the John Newbery Medal and Golden Kite award for Fiction. She’s not just a writer for books she also writes song lyrics and is a speaker.

Characters Out of the 3 books i’ve read of hers I notice that she tends to write the same type of main characters. Joan bauer likes to write characters that are in middle school with personal types of problems. For example in the book Tell Me the main character is Anna. In this book Anna has to go live with her grandma for the summer because her dad and mom are fighting so much that they might get a divorce. Another example is in the book Close to Famous, Fost McFee doesn’t know how to read and just doesn’t have the guts to tell anyone.

Recommendation I would recommend this book to girls in middle school who sometimes have been through some hard times. The reason is her main character are usual middle school girls which can make it easy to relate to. Joan bauers books are mainly about working hard and never giving up.

1st book I read The first book I read was Close to Famous it was about a 12 year old girl named Foster McFee. Foster has to move 3 states north to a small city called Culpepper in Virginia to get away from her mom's crazy ex-boyfriend. Not that her life is hard enough she also has a hard time making friends and barely knows how to read. While she's in Memphis she lives in a trailer and bakes for a restaurant near by. Baking is Fosters comfort in life, if she didn’t have baking she doesn't know what she would do in life. She also has a part job working at Miss Charleena’s during the summer. While she's working, Miss Chareena helps her learn how to read and for exchange Foster teaches her how to bake. There are multiple ups and downs for Foster but knows to never give up. Written in 2011

2nd book I read The second book I read was Tell me, it was about 12 year old Anna. She has to live with her grandma for the summer because her dad is having anger issues which is making her parents fight a lot. Anna really doesn’t want to go to her grandmas but knows there’s nothing she can do about it. When she’s at her grandma's she makes so new friends who are just a little bit older than her. She is very observant, on the first day she's at the library she notices something a little bit suspicious. She sees this girl being yelled at and dragged around by an old woman. She does everything she can to help the girl, from putting up signs to following all the clues to finally going to the sheriff's office. Anna won’t give up until she reaches her goal. Written in 2014

3rd book I read Written in 2000 The third book I read was Hope Was Here, 16 year old Hope has to move to a Mulhoney, Wisconsin with her Aunt Addie. Hope was born early and only weighed about 2 pounds, she was given to her aunt because her mom felt as if she wasn’t fit for parenting. When she first moved she got a job working at a diner. Her boss has leukemia but he still keeps working. He decides to run for mayor, Hope tries her hardest to help him win the election. There are some tough times for Hope but she still keeps working.

Why I liked these books There are multiple reasons why I liked these three books. The main reason why I liked them is because they were all very relatable for me. For example in the first book I read, Close to Famous, the main character was a girl my age. Having this similarity can help you understand what the character may be feeling or why they are taking certain actions. Another example is the difficulties the characters are going through, such as having your parents argue or maybe just not feeling like you’re able to find your place.

Themes Throughout the books i've read by Joan Bauer I seem to notice a theme of characters that are always easy to relate to. In each book they somehow always come back to the same theme all around. The main one i’ve noticed is perseverance is always key. For example in each book each character has these struggles she has to get by and they always work through them by persevering.

Authors writing Joan Bauer likes to write in first person view so that you can really understand what the main character is feeling and thinking. Her books normally start with a little flashback so that you can understand how or why a certain character is in a situation. She likes to really explain things which can help you feel like you’re in the place with your characters.