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Sharon M. Draper (born on August 21, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a professional educator as well as a writer and poet.

She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year, is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Award, and is a New York Times bestselling author. Mrs. Draper was selected as Ohio’s Outstanding High School Language Arts Educator, Ohio Teacher of the Year, and was chosen as a NCNW Excellence in Teaching Award winner. Draper is a Skywalker Family Foundation National Educator Award winner, and was the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum. She is a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and is the recipient of the Dean’s Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Educational Leadership Award. She was named Ohio Pioneer in Education by the Ohio State Department of Education.

After becoming one of the first teachers in the nation to achieve the National Board Certification in English/Language Arts, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Mrs. Draper is currently on the Board of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. Her award-winning essay on education, "The Touch of a Teacher," was published by the National Governor’s Association in What Governors Need to know about Education.

Actively involved in encouraging and motivating all teachers and their students as well, Draper has authored two books for educators, Teaching from the Heart and Not Quite Burned Out, but Crispy around the Edges. Mrs. Draper has worked all over the United States, as well as in Russia, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bermuda, and Guam, spreading the word about the power of accomplished teaching and excellence in education. She has been honored at the White House several times and was chosen as one of only four authors in the country to speak at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., and to represent the United States in Moscow at their Book Festival.

Her literary recognition began when, as a challenge from one of her students, she entered and won first prize in a literary contest, for which she was awarded $5000 and the publication of her short story, "One Small Torch." She has published numerous poems, articles, and short stories in a variety of literary journals, including her essay " Feel the Pain," in "Fight On," a literary publication that showcases the works of writers that are mentally handicapped.

She is an active participant in the activities of the YWCA of Cincinnati, a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, Top Ladies of Distinction, and Links, Incorporated. Ms. Draper travels extensively and has been a guest on television and radio programs throughout the country, discussing issues of literature, reading, and education. She is an public speaker who addresses educational and literary groups of all ages, both nationally and internationally, with entertaining readings of her poetry and novels, as well as enlightening instructional presentations. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and a golden retriever named Honey. She was recently in Louisville visiting libraries and schools talking to hundreds of kids.

Overview of Works

Tears of a Tiger has received numerous awards, including the American Library Association/Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for an outstanding new book, and was also honored as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. It has been recognized as one of the best of the year by the Children’s Book Council, the New York City Library, Bank Street College, and the National Council for Social Studies. It was also named as Best of the Best by VOYA and the American Library Association as one of the top 100 books for young adults.

Forged by Fire, the sequel to Tears of a Tiger, is the 1997 Coretta Scott King Award winner, as well as the winner of the ALA BEST Book Award and the Parent's Choice Award. It is about a three-year-old boy whose mother is on drugs and keeps on leaving him at home alone until one day he accidentally burns down the house. He is then sent to live with his aunt for a few years until she dies. Then he went back to live with his mom and abusive stepfather, Jordan. His mom was a drug addict and his stepfather was molesting his sister, Angel. And Angel was the only light in his life so he tried to stop Jordan from abusing Angel.

Darkness Before Dawn, the third book in the trilogy, is an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick, and has received the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association and received the Buckeye Book Award for 2005, and was named an IRA Young Adult Choice for 2003.

Romiette and Julio, is also listed as an ALA Best Book and has been selected by the International Reading Association as a 2000 Notable Book for a Global Society, and by the New York Public Library in their Books for the Teen Age.

Double Dutch was honored as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People by the Children's Book Council as well as one of the top ten sports books for young adults for 2003 by the ALA, and Best of the Best for 2004, and received the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award for 2006.

The Battle of Jericho is the 2004 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, one of the New York Public Library's Book for the Teen Age, and is one of the 2005 Young Adult Choice Books named by the International Reading Association.

We Beat the Street is listed on the New York Times Bestseller List and is on VOYA's Non-Fiction Honor List for 2006.

Copper Sun' received the 2007 Coretta Scott King Literature award, was named as one of the Top Ten Historical Fiction Books for Youth by Booklist, was nominated for the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Literature, and received the Ohioana Award for Young Adult Literature. Copper Sun also won the Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, was honored as an IRA Notable Book for a Global Society, selected as Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal and chosen as a CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book.

In 2008, November Blues, earned Draper her fifth Coretta Scott King Award.

Tears of a Tiger, Forged by Fire, Romiette and Julio, and Double Dutch' are all used in Scholastic's Read 180 program.

Draper on Draper

As stated by Sharon Draper, “Who Am I? I’m a creator, a visionary, a poet. I approach the world with the eyes of an artist, the ears of a musician, and the soul of a writer. I see rainbows where others see only rain, and possibilities when others see only problems. I love spring flowers, summer’s heat on my body, and the beauty of the dying leaves in the fall. Classical music, art museums, and ballet are sources of inspiration, as well as blues music and dim cafes.

I love to write; words flow easily from my fingertips, and my heart beats rapidly with excitement as an idea becomes a reality on the paper in front of me. I smile often, laugh easily, and I weep at pain and cruelty. I'm a learner and a seeker of knowledge, and I try to take my readers along on my journey. I am passionate about what I do.

I learned to dream through reading, learned to create dreams through writing, and learned to develop dreamers through teaching. I shall always be a dreamer. Come dream with me.”

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sharon Draper", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0