Holland, Isabelle

American author of young adult fiction, known for her "storytelling technique" and "characterizations"; received a National Book Award nomination for Of love and death and other journeys in 1976.

Isabelle Holland was born June 16, 1920 in Basel, Switzerland. Her father was with the United States Foreign Service and Isabelle Holland lived in Guatemala and England before returning to the United States. She graduated from Tulane University in 1942 and later worked, mostly in publicity, for various magazines and publishers. In 1967, Isabelle Holland published her first work, Cecily, for young adults. The story told of an unhappy thirteen-year-old girl in English boarding school and was widely praised for Isabelle Holland's "lucid prose and convincing characterizations." Throughout her long and prolific career, critics have lauded Isabelle Holland's "ability to create realistic true to life characters" in her fiction for young adults. She has also been praised for her "storytelling technique" and her willingness to tackle controversial subjects, such as homosexuality, death, and rape, in young adult fiction. Her 1975 novel Of Love and Death and Other Journeys, the story of young Meg Grant's coming to terms with love and loss, received a National Book Award nomination in 1976. The book was lauded as "a moving study of a young girl's sudden confrontation with life's paradoxes" and as "artistically balanced." Isabelle Holland also writes novels, mostly "Gothic mysteries" for adults. Biographical Sources: Something About the Author, vol. 70, pp.91-95 and Twentieth Century Children's Writers, 3rd ed., pp. 461-463.

American children's author, born in Basel, Switzerland in 1920. Her father was a U.S. Foreign Service officer. Holland had a twenty-five year career in the publishing industry as well. Her own books often deal with male and female protagonists who are lonely and isolated and involved in painful family situations and emotional or psychological dramas.

Isabelle Holland was born June 16, 1920 in Basel, Switzerland. Her father was with the United States Foreign Service and Isabelle Holland lived in Guatemala and England before returning to the United States. She graduated from Tulane University in 1942 and later worked, mostly in publicity, for various magazines and publishers. In 1967, Isabelle Holland published her first work, Cecily, for young adults. The story told of an unhappy thirteen-year-old girl in English boarding school and was widely praised for Isabelle Holland's "lucid prose and convincing characterizations." Throughout her long and prolific career, critics have lauded Isabelle Holland's "ability to create realistic true to life characters" in her fiction for young adults. She has also been praised for her "storytelling technique" and her willingness to tackle controversial subjects, such as homosexuality, death, and rape, in young adult fiction. Her 1975 novel Of Love and Death and Other Journeys, the story of young Meg Grant's coming to terms with love and loss, received a National Book Award nomination in 1976. The book was lauded as "a moving study of a young girl's sudden confrontation with life's paradoxes" and as "artistically balanced." Isabelle Holland also writes novels, mostly "Gothic mysteries" for adults.

Biographical Sources: Something About the Author, vol. 70, pp.91-95 and Twentieth Century Children's Writers, 3rd ed., pp. 461-463.