Background

Frances O’Roark Dowell was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1964, in a family of a soldier.

Education

Frances Dowell earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Wake Forest University. Later she earned a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts. Previously she finished a highschool in Texas.

Career

Frances Dowell currently works as a writer. In the past, she worked variously as a paralegal, college English instructor, arts administrator, and even a disc jockey. She also was an editor and co-publisher of Dream/Girl - art magazine tor girls.

Frances O'Roark Dowell's novels for young adult readers explore issues of growing up, family and friend relationships, and overcoming adversity. Reviewing her novels, which include Dovey Coe and The Secret Language of Girls, critics have praised her well-developed and believable protagonists. While Dowell's subjects range from the ordinary to the dramatic, the female protagonists at the center of her stories are girls to whom teen readers can relate.

Dowell's acclaimed debut novel Dovey Coe features a spunky young heroine who is outspoken, assertive, and protective of her family. Dovey does not like Parnell, her older sister's suitor, particularly the way he disrespects her family, and she is not afraid to say so. When Parnell takes her dog one night and threatens to kill it, Dovey tries to save her pet by attacking Parnell and is knocked unconscious. When she wakes up, both her dog and Parnell are dead, and Dovey must face a courtroom battle to prove her innocence. Betsy Fraser, writing in School Library Journal, noted that the novel "maintains a very fast pace, and Dovey is an original character," adding, "The background and characters are carefully developed and appealing." Booklist contributor Frances Bradburn added that "Dowell has created a memorable character in Dovey, quick-witted and honest to a fault."

Where I'd Like to Be is set in a home where orphaned children await foster homes. The protagonist is a girl named Maddie who makes the best of her bad situation and has a strong sense of herself. When a new girl, Murphy, arrives, Maddie is captivated by the girl's story as well as her imaginative personality. Dowell creates a cast of diverse children who create a family among themselves as they dream of becoming part of a permanent family. In Booklist, Linda Perkins wrote that Maddie's "voice and views are consistently those of a perceptive eleven-year-old," and added that the novel provides "ample discussion possibilities." The characters in the novel were particularly impressive to Faith Brautigam of School Library Journal, who commented that "the foster children's backgrounds are believable, diverse, and engaging," creating "unique and memorable characters."

The way teenage girls grow apart from their friends is the subject of The Secret Language of Girls. Kate and Marilyn have been friends since childhood, but as they enter the sixth grade, their paths diverge. While Marilyn gains access to the popular crowd, becomes a cheerleader, and is increasingly preoccupied with make-up and boys, Kate worries about her father's health and shies away from being noticed by her peers. In the end, the two girls find that their different lifestyles have not forced them as far apart as they thought. Martha P. Parravano, reviewing the novel for Horn Book, observed that "Dowell's development of this familiar situation is refreshingly nonjudgmental," and noted that the thoughtful tone of the novel is balanced by "supersonic pacing - a perspective that swings freely between Kate and Marylin, and vivid characterization."

Achievements

• While Frances is best known for her books for young adults, since 2010 she has hosted a popular podcast about her life as a quilter, and in 2016 established a small publishing company to bring out a line of stories and novels especially for quiltmakers and quilt lovers. Her works were translated into Polish, Chinese, French, and German.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Trouble the Water

    (From the award-winning author of Dovey Coe comes a tale o...)

    2016
  • Ten Miles Past Normal

    (From bestselling author Frances O’Roark Dowell, a funny a...)

    2011
  • Shooting the Moon

    (From the author of the Edgar Award-winning Dovey Coe come...)

    2008
  • Where I'd Like To Be

    (A ghost saved twelve-year-old Maddie's life when she was ...)

    2003
  • Birds in the Air

    (The quilting novel Marianne Fons calls a truly enjoyable ...)

    2016
  • Anybody Shining

    (I this book Frances Dowell examines the clash between cit...)

    2014
  • Chicken Boy

    (Meet Tobin McCauley. He's got a near-certifiable grandmot...)

    2005
  • Dovey Coe 2000
  • Falling In 2010
  • The Second Life of Abigail Walker 2012
  • The Secret Language of Girls 2004
  • The Kind of Friends We Used to Be 2010
  • The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away 2013
  • Phineas L. MacGuire... Erupts!: The First Experiment 2006
  • Phineas L. MacGuire... Gets Slimed! 2007
  • Phineas L. MacGuire... Blasts Off! 2008
  • Phineas L. MacGuire... Gets Cooking! 2012
  • Sam the Man & the Chicken Plan 2016
  • Sam the Man & the Rutabaga Plan 2017

Views

Quotations: "I always loved to write - it was a happy day in school for me when we were assigned an essay - but I was never much of a fiction writer."

Personality

Growing up in the Army meant that Frances had to move a lot. By the time she left home for college, she had also lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, Springfield, Virginia, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Bad Kreuznach, Germany, and Killeen, Texas. She credits her ability to strike up conversations with strangers as a survival skill Army brats learn because they change schools so often.

Connections

Frances O'Roark Dowell lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, two sons, and a dog named Travis.

husband:

Clifton Dowell

Son:

Jack Dowell

Son:

Will Dowell

References

• Contemporary Authors vol. 233