BIOGRAPHY & AWARDS
About Me
EXPLORE BOOKS
GET IN TOUCH
My Story
As an author and journalist, my career has focused on the impacts of trauma on young people: the pain of war, the impact of oppression, the sting of invisibility. If there is a through-line in my work it is this: that people, young and old, survive and prevail by finding a voice. I document suffering as a way of bearing witness, but my goal is to celebrate resilience. To offer readers vicarious comfort in being seen in the stories of others and hope by shining a light on the path that others have taken.
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WRITER / JOURNALIST / ACTIVIST
BASED IN SAG HARBOUR
I’ve written about girls who have been trafficked, about a boy who survived a genocide, about a pastor who defied the Nazis, about a girl who was nearly killed fighting for her right to an education. I’ve also written about a little girl whose life was changed by a simple act of kindness – and about a horse who was a war hero. All these characters are real – or based on real people (or a real horse.) The way I tell their stories is informed by my background as a journalist. I use interviews and research as scaffolding– and then draw on my imagination to give depth and dimension to the facts.
What I’ve heard from readers, no matter how different their lives are from the lives I’ve portrayed in my books: “You told my story.”
Why am I drawn to these stories? I consider myself an activist -- using my skills as a writer to bring awareness to some of the darker aspects of the human condition and, I hope, to inspire change. But my own childhood traumas – and the powerlessness and invisibility I felt – also inspired me to portray the kinds of experiences that left me feeling ashamed and alone. The other thing I have in common with my subjects is an unquenchable hope. For me, that hope came from my imagination, from writing goofystories as a kid to take me away, momentarily, from my real life – to eventually imagining a way out of that life.
What I’ve heard from readers, no matter how different their lives are from the lives I’veportrayed in my books: “You told my story.”
Now, after a career writing the stories of other people, I’m telling my own story.
And I find it very uncomfortable. To put myself at the center of attention. To reveal truths that could hurt others.
To bare my own shortcomings and blind spots. To believe that my story may have value in the world.
But. I can’t not write it. After a shattering betrayal a few years ago, I feel compelled to use my writerly skills to try to understand my own life, to make something of my shock and pain, to give meaning to it. It’s not that what happened to me is so special. This kind of heartbreak can happen -- does happen -- every day. But if I can render my experience in a way that invites others to see their experiences put into words and given a dignity that is often taken from us when we’ve been hurt, maybe those readers will also say, “You told my story.”
Awards & Honors
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National Book Award Finalist, 2006, 2012
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Huffington Post, Best Books of 2012
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Chicago Public Library, Best Books of 2006, 2012
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iTunes, Best Books of 2012
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School Library Journal, Best Books of 2012
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Publishers Weekly, Best 25 Books of 2009
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Publishers Weekly, Best 100 Books of 2006
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National Public Radio’s Best Books of the Year 2006
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American Library Association, Top Ten List, Best Books of the Year, 2006
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Booklist 2006 Editor’s Choice Award
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Gustav-Heinemann Peace Prize, 2009
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Booklist Top Ten Women’s History Books for Youth, 2007
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ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007
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Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2007
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Book Sense Pick, Winter 2006
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IndieBound Pick, Autumn 2009
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New York Public Library Best Books for the Teenage, 2000, 2004, 2006
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American Library Association Best Book of the Year 2002
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American Library Association Top Ten Quick Pick 2000
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Children’s Literature Council’s Choice 2000, 2006
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Teen People Book-of-the-Month selection 2000
McCormick’s writing “may even inspire you to do something to change the world.”
NPR
