Contact Information
Lives in: Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612-812-5476
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.johncoy.com/
Author of: Childrens Fiction, Non-fiction, Picture Books, Young Adult Fiction
Age Group: PreK-12
Books
Young Adult
Gap Life. Feiwel and Friends, 2016.
Box Out. Scholastic, 2008.
Crackback. Scholastic, Fall 2005.
Middle Grade
For Extreme-Sports Crazy Boys Only. Feiwel and Friends, 2015.
Eyes on the Goal. 4 for 4 series. Square Fish, 2012.
Take Your Best Shot. 4 for 4 series. Square Fish, 2012.
Love of the Game. 4 for 4 series. Square Fish, 2011.
Top of the Order. 4 for 4 series. Square Fish, 2010.
Picture Books
If We Were Gone, illustrated by Natalie Capannelli, Lerner Books, 2020
Dads, photographs by Wing Young Huie, Lerner Books, 2020
My Mighty Journey: A Waterfall’s Story. Minnesota Historical Society, 2019.
On Your Way. Beaming Books, 2019.
Their Great Gift. Carolrhoda Books, 2016.
Game Changer. Carolrhoda Books, 2015.
Hoop Genius. Carolrhoda Books, 2013.
Around the World. Illus. by Tom Lynch and Tony Reonegro. Lee and Low, 2005.
Night Driving. Illus. by Peter McCarty. Henry Holt, 1996; paperback, Spring 2001.
Two Old Potatoes and Me. Illus. by Carolyn Fisher. Knopf, 2003.
Strong to the Hoop. Illus by Leslie Jean-Bart. Lee and Low, 1999; paperback, Summer 2003.
Vroomaloom Zoom. Illus by Joe Cepeda. Knopf/Crown, 2000; paperback, Summer 2002.
Highlights
John Coy is the author of the numerous award-winning books including Night Driving, Vroomaloom Zoom, Two Old Potatoes and Me, Hoop Genius, Game Changer, and Their Great Gift.
He is also the author of the young adult novels Crackback, Box Out, and Gap Life and the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, featuring Top of the Order, Eyes on the Goal, Love of the Game, and Take Your Best Shot.
John enjoys working with students from pre-K to high school and specializes in getting all kids involved in seeing new ways of reading and writing. He lives near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis and visits schools and libraries throughout Minnesota and around the world.
Awards
Night Driving
• Awarded the 1997 Marion Vannett Ridgway Award for excellence in an author’s or illustrator’s first picture book
• Chosen one of the best books of the year by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in the New York Times
• Selected for Fanfare 1997, The Horn Book Honor List chosen from the books of 1996
• Named one of The Choice Books of 1996 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Nominated for a 1997 Minnesota Book Award and named as a finalist for Children’s Books of Distinction by The Hungry Mind Review
• Chosen for a Seal of Quality by The Family Channel Entertainment Guide
• Nominated for Vermont’s 1997 children’s book award, The Red Clover Award
• Selected for Not Just for Children Anymore, A Selection by Booksellers of 110 Children’s Books that Adults will Enjoy and Buy for Themselves, published by The Children’s Book Council
• Chosen as a Best Children’s Book of the Year for 1998 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Selected as one of the Best Illustrated Books of the Year by The New York Times
Strong to the Hoop
• Chosen as an American Library Association Notable Book for 2000
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2000 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Picked as A Notable Social Studies Trade Book For Young People for 2000 by the Children’s Book Council
• Chosen as a Best Children’s Book of the Year for 2000 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Selected as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Reading Association, 2000
Vroomaloom Zoom
• Selected as a book of excellence on the Children’s Literature Choice List for 2001
• Chosen as a Best Children’s Book of the Year for 2001 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Picked for the 2001 2X2 Reading List of the Texas Library Association, a list for children age 2 to Second Grade
• Starred review in School Library Journal
Two Old Potatoes and Me
• Received starred reviews in School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly
• Chosen as one of Nickelodeon Jr.’s Best Family Books for the Year for 2003
• Selected as an Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Honor Book
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2003 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Chosen as a Best Children’s Book of the Year for 2003 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Named an Honor Book for the Charlotte Zolotow Award, best text in a picture book
• Selected as a featured book for Reading Rainbow, 2005
• Picked as a book of the Month for the Read On Wisconsin Program
• Chosen by The Junior Master Gardener Program and the American Horticultural Society to honor the best of the best in children’s garden fiction. These Growing Good Kids Book Awards CLASSICS represent the TOP 40 books of the last 100 YEARS.
Around the World
• Chosen as a Junior Library Guild book
• Selected for the National Basketball Association Read to Achieve program
• Featured title in the Basketball without Borders program
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball
• Starred Review in the Horn Book
• Recipient of the Silver Triangle Award from Communication Arts
• Selected as one of the Best Books for Kids and Teens of 2013 by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre
• Chosen as one of the Top Ten Sports Book for Youth by Booklist for 2013
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2014 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Selected as a Finalist for the Minnesota Star of the North Book Award for 2014-2015
• Nominated as a Finalist for the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award
• Chosen as a Best Children’s Book of the Year for 2014 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Selected as a Book of the Month for the Intermediate Division of the Read On Wisconsin Program
• Nominated for the Rocky Mountain Book Award by the Alberta Readers’ Choice Awards for 2015
• Selected as a nominee for the North Carolina Children’s Book Award for 2015
• Selected for the 2015 Multicultural Book Collection by Reading is Fundamental
• Nominated for a Virginia Readers’ Choice Award for 2015-2016
• Nominated for a Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award for 2016
• Nominated for the Monarch Illinois Readers’ Choice Award for 2016
• Nominated for the 2015-2016 South Carolina Picture Book Award
• Nominated for Tennessee’s Volunteer State Book Award for 2016-2017
• Selected as a 2016 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award Honor Book
• Included on the National Endowment for the Humanities Nonfiction Favorites List for Young Readers
Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game
• Starred Review in Booklist
• Starred Review in Publishers Weekly
• Selected as one of the Miami Herald’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2015
• Chosen as one of the Best Books for Children by the Raleigh News & Observer, 2015
• Selected as a Recommended Orbis Pictus book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children by the National Council of Teachers of English, 2016
• Selected as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Reading Association, 2016
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2016 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Chosen for Outstanding Merit as one of the Best Children’s Books of the Year for 2016 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Winner of the 2016 Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature by the Wisconsin Library Association Youth Services Section
Their Great Gift: Courage, Sacrifice, and Hope in a New Land
• Starred Review in Publishers Weekly
• Starred Review in School Library Journal
• Starred Review in Kirkus
• Selected as a Reviewer’s Choice in the July 2016 Midwest Book Review
Middle Grade
Top of the Order
• Picked as a Junior Library Guild book
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2010 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Selected as a Book of the Month for the Read On Wisconsin Program
• Chosen as a Best Children’s Book of the Year for 2010 by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education, New York
• Selected as a Finalist for the Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award, 2013-2014
Eyes on the Goal
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2011 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Take Your Best Shot
• Named one of the Choice Books of 2013 by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Young Adult
Crackback
• Starred review in Booklist
• Selected for Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Literature by the Wisconsin Library Association in 2006
• Chosen as a book of the Month for the Read On Wisconsin Program
• Selected as a Junior Library Guild book
• Picked as a 2006 Texas Reading Club choice
• Chosen as an Additional Title of Interest in 500 Great Books for Teens
• Selected for the YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list of 2006
• Picked for the 2007-08 Pennsylvania Young Adult Readers Choice Award
• Selected for the 2007 Young Adults’ Choices list of the International Reading Association
• Chosen by the Young Adult Round Table of the Texas Library Association for the Tayshas Reading List of 2007-2008
• Selected as a Book of the Month for the Read On Wisconsin Program
• Nominated for 2009 Grand Canyon Reader Award
• Finalist for 2010 Nutmeg Award
Box Out
• Chosen as a Junior Library Guild book
• Starred review in Booklist
• Chosen by Booklist as one of the Top Ten Sports Books for Youth of 2009
• Selected as a Book of the Month for the Read On Wisconsin Program
Presentations
Creating a Picture Book
On first glance, picture books seem remarkably simple. Behind this simplicity, however, are days, months, and years of work. In this presentation, John will explore the steps of picture book creation from first draft, through revisions, editing, publishing, to finished book. John will show examples and discuss how the writer, illustrator, editor, art director, editorial director, publicist, lawyer, and sales staff work together to make a book and get it into your hands. John will ask questions to engage the audience and he is happy to respond to student questions.
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
For many students coming up with ideas isn’t easy. But they are full ideas. In this presentation, John will explore the process of getting started and examine ways students can explore the ideas that they naturally have. He’ll discuss the necessity of not being too critical at this stage in order to have multiple possibilities from which to choose. John will show examples from his own writing and demonstrate reliable ways to find ideas.
Revision: Seeing Your Story Again
Of all the aspects of writing, revision is the most difficult. Today’s youngsters live in a world of fast changes. Getting them to go back and revise their writing is a major challenge. In this workshop, John will share simple and effective tips for getting students to revise. He will read selections of his work to show the necessity of revision and conduct exercises so students can see the improvement in their own writing.
GAP LIFE: Writing a YA Novel
Young adult novels provide an opportunity to explore character, plot, scene, voice and ideas. John will talk about how an author organizes these elements and the surprising amount of work that is done away from the desk. John will show examples of drafts, revisions, and advance copies to show the steps a manuscript goes through on its way to becoming a book. Questions are welcomed.
Fees
Contact the author for fee information and setting up a program that meets your specific needs.