Biographical Information

Nancy Farmer was born on July 9, 1941, in Phoenix, Arizona. She now resides in Menlo Park, California. She earned a B.A. at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and spent many decades of her life abroad. In the mid-1960's she toured with the Peace Corp in India and lived in South Africa and Zimbabwe in the 1970's and 1980's. She has said that her time in Africa has greatly affected her.

In an interview with Locus Magazine she said, "Though I spent time in India and in Australia, I was in Africa a lot longer than any other place and I got into the African mindset." She also commented on the themes of her stories; "One of my main themes is self-reliance, the ability to compete against odds and to beat them...I don't want to write 'victim' books. I want a triumph, a hero or a heroine, and that's what I write about."

Nancy Farmer also commented on scary elements in her stories, "You don't want to leave people feeling hopeless. You also don't want to absolutely terrorize them, especially kids."

*Nancy Farmer Wikipedia Article and other Nancy Farmer sources

Awards and Achievements

1995 Newbery Honor for The Ear, The Eye and the Arm (1994)

1997 Newbery Honor for A Girl Named Disaster (1996)

2002 National Book Award (U.S) in the Young People's Literature category for The House of the Scorpion (2002)

2003 Newbery Honor for The House of the Scorpion (2002)

2003 Buxtehuder Bulle (Germany) for The House of the Scorpion (2002)

2003 Printz Honor for The House of the Scorpion (2002)

*Nancy Farmer Wikipedia Article

List of Works

The Mirror (1987)

Lorelei: The Story of a Bad Cat (1987)

Do You Know Me (1993)

Tapiwa's Uncle (1993)

The Ear, The Eye and the Arm (1994)

The Warm Place (1995)

Runnery Granary: A Mystery Must Be Solved-Or the Grain is Lost! (1996)

A Girl Named Disaster (1996)

The House of the Scorpion (2002)

The Sea of Trolls (2004)

Clever Ali (2006)

The Land of the Silver Apples (2007)

The Island of the Blessed (to be published in 2009)

"Origami Mountain" (1992)

"Falada: The Goose Girl's Horse" (2000)

"Remember Me" (2003)

"Bella's Birthday Present" (2007)

"The Mole Cure" (2007)

*Nancy Farmer Wikipedia Article