Katherine Paterson’s Nonfiction Debut
In spite of a late start, Paterson eventually found great success as a writer.
She has garnered two National Book Awards as well as Newbery Medals for Bridge to Terabitha and Jacob Have I Loved. Paterson also served as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature (2010-2011), promoting child literacy across the country. She has never lost her connection to childhood:
I understand how it feels to be a child. The child that I was is still inside me…I have a good emotional memory. And that’s what makes it possible for me to write for children in a way that children say, ‘How do you know how we feel?’ I know how they feel because that child who felt deeply is still inside me. (VPR)
