Namioka, Lensey

American author of children's and young adult fiction, well-known for her historical fiction set in sixteenth-century Japan.

From the description of The coming of the bear : a novel : production material, ca. 1991-1992. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62444307

From the description of Yang the Third and her impossible family : production material, ca. 1995. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62451845

From the description of The loyal cat : production material, ca. 1995. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62494978

From the description of April and the Dragon Lady : production material, ca. 1994. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62444305

From the description of Yang the Youngest and his terrible ear : production material, ca. 1992. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62444310

From the description of The laziest boy in the world : production material, ca. 1998. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62451844

From the description of Island of ogres : production material, ca. 1988-1989. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62444308

From the description of Papers, 1988-1998. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62406404

From the description of Den of the White Fox : production material, ca. 1997. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62406406

Lensey Namioka, nee Chao, was born June 14, 1929 in Peking, China. She studied at Radcliffe College from 1947-1949 and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1951 and received her master's degree in 1952. Lensey Namioka worked as a mathematics instructor and translator before turning to writing in the 1970s. In 1976, she published her first books for juveniles, The Samurai and the Long-Nosed Devils and White Serpent Castle . Both books told of the adventures of two unemployed samurai in sixteenth-century Japan. Critics praised these books and Lensey Namioka's other works of historical fiction for their attention to detail and for evoking the place and period vividly. Critics also lauded her plots for their mystery, intrigue, action and suspense. Lensey Namioka has also written stories that draw on her Chinese heritage. In April and the Dragon Lady (1994), she describes how teenager April must come to terms with her own Chinese cultural heritage and contemporary American expectations. Her Yang series of books focus on the experiences and family life of some young Chinese immigrants living in Seattle. Critics called them humorous and filled with uproarious scenes of cross-cultural awkwardness that all children can understand. Lensey Namioka has received several awards for her work including the Washington State Governor's Award in 1976 for White Serpent Castle,the Edgar Allan Poe award in 1982 for Village of the Vampire Cat, and the California Young Reader Medal in 2004 for Ties that Bind, Ties that Break .

From the guide to the Lensey Namioka Papers, 1998-2004, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections)