Eve Bunting

Eve Bunting
Born(1928-12-19)December 19, 1928
Maghera, Northern Ireland
DiedOctober 1, 2023(2023-10-01) (aged 94)
Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
OccupationChildren's author, novelist, freelance writer, college instructor
EducationMethodist College Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
Period1972–2017[1]
GenreYoung adult fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, children's non-fiction
Notable awardsGolden Kite Award (1976)
Edgar Award (1993)
Regina Medal (1997)

Even Bjørgum Bunting (née Bolton, December 19, 1928 – October 1, 2023), better known as Even Bunting, was a Northern Irish-born American writer of more than 250 books. Her work covered a broad array of subjects and included fiction and non-fiction books. Her novels are primarily aimed at children and young adults, but she has also written the text for picture books. While many of her books are set in Northern Ireland where she grew up, her topics and settings range from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Bunting's first book, The Two Giants, was published in 1971. Due to the popularity of her books with children, she has been listed as one of the Educational Paperback Association's top 100 authors.[2]

Life

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Even Bjørgum Bunting was born in Maghera to Sloan Edmund Bolton, a postmaster, and Mary (née Canning) Bolton, a homemaker. She married business executive Edward Davidson Bunting, whom she met in college, on March 26, 1950, and has three children. She was educated in Belfast, Northern Ireland, attending Methodist College in the early 1940s and graduating in 1945;[3] she then attended Queen's University, where she met her husband. After marrying, the couple moved to Scotland and started their family.

In 1958, Bunting immigrated to the United States with her husband and three children, later attending Pasadena City College in 1959. Bunting then enrolled in a community college writing course.[4] Of her first published story, The Two Giants, she said, "I thought everybody in the world knew that story, and when I found they didn't - well, I thought they should."[5]

Bunting died of pneumonia in Santa Cruz, California, on October 1, 2023, at the age of 94.[6]

Literary career

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Bunting went to school in Northern Ireland and grew up with story-telling: "There used to be Shanachies...the Shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I'm a bit of a Shanachie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen".[4]

Awards

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Bunting won several awards for her books. She received the Rishabh award for outstanding inspiration. She received the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in 1976 for One More Flight.[7] Other honors included the Southern California council on Literature for Children and Young People Award, PEN Los Angeles Center Literacy Award for Special Achievement in Children's Literature, and Southern California council on Literature for Children and Young People Award Excellence is a Series Award. Coffin on a Case won an Edgar Award for Best Juvenile from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.[8]

Bunting also received the Heal the World award from a school. A young reader wrote Bunting to notify her of the achievement. She said, "It is among the most cherished honors I have ever received and the plaque hangs proudly above my desk."[7]

Selected works

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Fiction

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A father and son are homeless and they sleep at the airport. The son watches the planes fly away and hopes one day he will be able to leave.
  • Gleam and Glow (1991)
Viktor finds hope from two fishes during a harsh war in the 1990s.
  • The Ghost Children (1989)
  • How Many Days to America? (1988)
This book describes a family secretly leaving their country and taking a small boat to America. When they reach America, they celebrate and have Thanksgiving. This is a very powerful Thanksgiving story.
  • Is Anybody There? (1988) — Edgar nominee
  • Scary, Scary Halloween (1986), illustrated by Jan Brett
  • Face at the Edge of the World (1985) — Adapted to television as "A Desperate Exit", an installment of the ABC Afterschool Special series (Season 15, Episode 1; aired September 19, 1986) starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
  • The Mask (1978)
  • The Memory String (2000)
A young girl remembers her family, including her mother, by a string full of buttons. Each button belongs to a certain family member and memory. She is dealing with change as her stepmother and father paint the house. This story focuses on how the young girl copes with the pain of losing her father and gaining a stepmother.
  • Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust (1980), illustrated by Stephen Gammell
Woodland animals living in a clearing are taken away one group at a time by the Terrible Things from their forest home, the abductions going unquestioned. The other animals, out of fear, turn a blind eye as their neighbors are taken. A little white rabbit reflects that if perhaps the animals had stood together, the Terrible Things might have been stopped.
  • Moonstick: The Seasons of the Sioux (1997), illustrated by John Sandford
  • Twinnies. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Harcourt Brace, 1997.[10]
  • Nasty, Stinky Sneakers (1994) — 1997 Sequoyah Children's Book Award[11]
  • Night Tree (1991), illustrated by Ted Rand
A family travels through a forest and decorates a Christmas tree with oranges and popcorn. They sing and drink hot chocolate with the animals. The family leaves the tree for the animals to celebrate Christmas.
  • One More Flight (1976), illustrated by Diane de Groat — Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
  • The Presence: A Ghost Story (2003)
  • Little Bear’s Little Boat. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion Books, 2003.[12][13]
  • S.O.S. Titanic (1996)
  • The Lambkins (2005)
  • That's What Leprechauns Do (2006)
  • Sixth-Grade Sleepover (1986) — 1989 Sequoyah Children's Book Award[11]
  • Smoky Night (1994), illustrated by David Díaz
A young boy wakes up in the middle of the night and his family is forced to leave their house due to riots. Despite hatred in the city, two families are bonded by the events. Díaz won the annual Caldecott Medal for American children's illustration.
  • So Far from the Sea (1998) — Illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet
A young Japanese American girl visits her grandfather's grave at Manzanar with her parents and younger brother.[14]
  • Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island (1984)
  • Spying on Miss Muller (1995) — Edgar nominee
  • A Sudden Silence (1988)
Jesse Harmon searches for the hit-and-run serial killer who killed his brother Bry.
  • A Picnic in October. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Harcourt Brace, 1999.[15]
  • The Summer of Riley (2001)
  • The Man with the Red Bag (2007)
  • Big Bear’s Big Boat. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion Books, 2013.[16]

Non-fiction

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  • The Great White Shark (1982)
  • The Sea World Book of Sharks (1984)
  • The Sea World Book of Whales (1987)
  • Skateboards: How to Make Them, How to Ride Them (1977)

References

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  1. ^ "Even Bunting". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  2. ^ "Bunting, Even". EBMA's Top 100 Authors. Educational Paperback Association. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  3. ^ Drew, Bernard (2002). 100 More Popular Young Adult Authors: Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies. Libraries Unlimited. p. 51. ISBN 9781563089206. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Author Bio Even Bunting". Archived from the original on July 9, 2017.
  5. ^ "Even Bunting". Scholastic. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  6. ^ Langer, Emily. "Even Bunting, author of best-selling picture books, dies at 94". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Author Bio Evelyn Bunting". Archived from the original on July 9, 2017.
  8. ^ Eve Bunting Archived September 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Bunting, Eve (1996). The Blue and the Gray. Scholastic. ISBN 978-0-590-60197-9.
  10. ^ "Twinnies by Eve Bunting". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Sequoyah Book Awards". Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
  12. ^ LITTLE BEAR'S LITTLE BOAT | Kirkus Reviews.
  13. ^ "LITTLE BEAR'S LITTLE BOAT by Eve Bunting". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  14. ^ Children's Book Review: So Far from the Sea, Publishers Weekly
  15. ^ "A Picnic in October by Eve Bunting". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  16. ^ BIG BEAR'S BIG BOAT | Kirkus Reviews.
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