cleaver, Vera

Vera Allen Cleaver (1919- ) and Bill (William Joseph) Cleaver (1920-1981) were married in 1945. They collaboratively wrote hundreds of stories for pulp magazines and sixteen novels for children and young adults.

Vera Fern Allen Cleaver was born in Virgil, South Dakota, on 6 January 1919, the fifth of nine children. Reared during the Great Depression, she had to interrupt her formal education, which, she has said, she continued in public libraries. She later graduated from a school of business.

William Joseph Cleaver was born on 24 March 1920 in Hugo, Oklahoma. At age five, he was placed in a private school in British Columbia, where he stayed until he was fourteen. His young adulthood was spent in Seattle, Washington, where he attended public schools. From his youth, he was interested in writing; he also educated himself in public libraries. He served in the military during World War II, during which time he met and married Vera Allen. Like his wife, Bill Cleaver graduated from a school of business.

The opportunity to travel widely during the Cleavers' extended military career with the U.S. Air Force figures in their writing.

The Cleavers wrote in collaboration until Bill Cleaver's death in 1981 at age 61. Their routine was to gather ideas and discuss them for several months before establishing the central motif and characters. Vera Cleaver would then do the actual writing. Their themes are realistic, and they are noted for their expert use of dialog and sympathetic probing of human nature.

Early in their writing career, the Cleavers produced over 300 stories for pulp magazines, of which some 279 were published. They also published work in more widely-respected nationally circulated magazines. According to Mr. Cleaver, the couple began to feel that they could use their writing talents toward a more worthwhile end, and turned to writing books for pre-adolescents, adolescents, and young adults.

During their life together, all of their works were cooperative efforts except for the first, The Nurse's Dilemma, written by Vera Cleaver in 1966. As a couple, they wrote sixteen novels, most of which have been well reviewed and widely acclaimed in both the United States and England.

The books written by Bill and Vera Cleaver are as follows:

Ellen Grae (Lippincott, 1967), Horn Book Honor List

Lady Ellen Grae (Lippincott, 1968)

Where the Lilies Bloom (Lippincott, 1969), Horn Book Honor List, National Book Award finalist

Grover (Lippincott, 1970), National Book Award finalist

The Mimosa Tree (Lippincott, 1970)

I Would Rather Be a Turnip (Lippincott, 1971)

The Mock Revolt (Lippincott, 1971)

Delpha Green and Company (Lippincott, 1972)

The Whys and Wherefores of Littabelle Lee (Atheneum, 1973) National Book Award finalist

Me Too (Lippincott, 1973), ALA Notable Book

Dust of the Earth (Lippincott, 1975), Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, Western Writers of America Shelf Award

Trial Valley (Lippincott, 1977)

Queen of Hearts (Lippincott, 1978), National Book Award finalist

A Little Destiny (Lothrop, 1979)

The Kissimmee Kid (Lothrop, 1981)

Hazel Rye (Lippincott, 1982)

After Bill Cleaver's death, Vera Cleaver continued to write, producing Sugar Blue (Lothrop, 1984) and Sweetly Sings the Donkey (Lippincott, 1985).

Vera Cleaver cites the Cleavers' residences as follows:

Seattle and Vancouver, Washington, 1945-1948

Tampa, Florida, 1948-1954

Tachikawa, Japan, 1954-1956

Chaumont, France, 1956-1959

Tampa, Florida, 1959-1964

Carmel Valley, California 1965

Boone, North Carolina, 1965-1969

Lutz, Florida, 1969-1971

Winter Haven, Florida, 1971-

Sources: Children's Literature Review, Vol. 6 (1984), pp 95-96, 114; other brief biographical treatments, copies of which are in the accession file for this collection; and a letter, Vera Cleaver to Carolyn Wallace, 18 June 1985, in the accession file.