Greene, Bette, 1934-....

Bette Greene, nee Evansky, was born June 28, 1834, in West Memphis, Tennessee. She grew up in a small Arkansas town, in one of the few Jewish families in the area. She later drew on the experiences of small town Southern life and her feelings of being an outsider because of her Jewish heritage in several of her books. She attended the universities of Alabama, Memphis State, and Columbia during the 1950s, and later worked as a reporter and information officer. In 1973 she published her first young adult novel, Summer of My German Soldier. Set in Arkansas during World War II, It tells the story of a young Jewish girl who hides a German POW, and the consequences of this act of family and social defiance. The book was widely praised by critics and won several citations. In 1978 she published a sequel. She has also written several books for younger readers, including Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe, which won a Newbery Honor in 1975. Biographical Sources: Something About the Author, vols. 8, 102; Something About the Author Autobiography Series, vol. 16; Twentieth Century Children's Writers, 3rd ed. pp. 402-403; Children's Literature Review, vol. 2.

American author of young adult and children's fiction; Newbery Honor award for Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe in 1975.

Bette Greene, nee Evansky, was born June 28, 1834, in West Memphis, Tennessee. She grew up in a small Arkansas town, in one of the few Jewish families in the area. She later drew on the experiences of small town Southern life and her feelings of being an outsider because of her Jewish heritage in several of her books. She attended the universities of Alabama, Memphis State, and Columbia during the 1950s, and later worked as a reporter and information officer. In 1973 she published her first young adult novel, Summer of My German Soldier . Set in Arkansas during World War II, It tells the story of a young Jewish girl who hides a German POW, and the consequences of this act of family and social defiance. The book was widely praised by critics and won several citations. In 1978 she published a sequel. She has also written several books for younger readers, including Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe, which won a Newbery Honor in 1975.

Biographical Sources: Something About the Author, vols. 8, 102; Something About the Author Autobiography Series, vol. 16; Twentieth Century Children's Writers, 3rd ed. pp. 402-403; Children's Literature Review, vol. 2.