Early life

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, John Coy was the oldest of four children. His parents were both educators: Coy's father taught college history and his mother taught high school English. Graduating from Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, he later received his master of arts degree in children and creativity from St. Mary's University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Coy worked at a variety of jobs...dishwasher, tour guide, mattress maker...before deciding on a career as a writer.

Career

His first picture book, Night Driving, was inspired by cross-country driving trips on which his father took his family of six when the author was young. John, the oldest, usually sat in front with his father, talking during the wee hours of the night, learning more about his dad than he did when the family was at home.

John's book Strong to the Hoop involved him in the National Basketball Association's Read to Achieve program. Strong to the Hoop was translated into Spanish as Directo al Aro four years later. The NBA asked that John write a book about basketball as it is played in countries all over the world. That book became Around the World.

Working with boys during school visits, talking to them, hearing the reasons they do and do not read, John has written books he would have liked reading as a teen. Crackback is set within the realities of high school football and Box Out perceptively follows a sophomore as he is called up to play varsity basketball, recognizing the myriad of decisions teens face every day.

Recently John began a series of books for middle grade readers. The first one, Top of the Order, was published in 2009 and it is all about baseball. The second book, focused on soccer, is called Eyes on the Goal.

Strong to the Hoop, Night Driving, and Vroomaloom Zoom have been produced as children's theater throughout the United States.

John has worked as a librettist with the Minnesota Orchestra, an editor for the Youth Computer Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and a tour guide for the Minnesota Historical Society. He has also worked extensively with developmentally disabled adults and children.

Present life

John Coy is working on several books. He teaches writing through The Loft Literary Center, PEN, and at many schools throughout the United States and internationally. A love of travel is essential to many of his books, and the research on basketball was one of the most memorable for Around the World, a graphic picture book.

Married to a publisher, John has one daughter. He lives near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Published works

• Night Driving (1996), illustrated by Peter McCarty
• Strong to the Hoop (1999), illustrated by Leslie Jean-Bart
• Vroomaloom Zoom (2000), illustrated by Joe Cepeda
• Directo Al Aro (2002), illustrated by Leslie Jean-Bart
• Two Old Potatoes and Me (2003), illustrated by Carolyn Fisher
• Around the World (2005), illustrated by Antonio Reonegro and Tom Lynch
• Crackback (2009), book
• Box Out (2009), novel
• Top of the Order (2009), novel
• Eyes on the Goal (2010), novel

• 1997 Marion Vannett Ridgway Memorial Award [1] for first book, Night Driving
• 2003 Reading Rainbow book [2], Two Old Potatoes and Me
• 2004 Charlotte Zolotow Honor book [3] for Two Old Potatoes and Me
• 2006 ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers [4] fiction category, Crackback
• 2007 Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Young Adult Choices for 2007 [5] for Crackback
• 2009 Booklist's Top 10 Sports Books for Boxout

Interviews

• 2002 National Public Radio webcast, 12 June 2003
• 2007 Minnesota Public Radio webcast, with author David LaRochelle, 26 December 2007
• 2008 Atheists Talk AM950 KTNF Minnesota Atheists With Grant Steves, 17 August 2008
• 2010 Minnesota Public Radio webcast, with Marianne Combs, 23 April 2010
• 2010 Children's Literature Network interview, 10 May 2010