Ilene Cooper

Ilene Cooper (born March 10, 1948)[1] is an American author and reviewer of children's books.

Early life and education

Cooper was born in Chicago, where she graduated from Sullivan High School. She later attended the Missouri School of Journalism, where she majored in radio and television. After working at WGN-TV for several years, she enrolled in Rosary College, where she received her Master of Science in Library Science.[2]

Career

Cooper began her career as a children's librarian at the Winnetka Public Library.[3] She is the children's books editor at the book review magazine Booklist.[4][2] She has also written numerous children's books about feminism and politics.[3]

In the mid-2000s, John Green was working at Booklist, where he was mentored by Cooper, when his book Looking for Alaska won the Michael L. Printz Award.[5] During this time, Green gave a draft copy of Looking for Alaska to Cooper, before the book was published; Cooper later recalled that after reading this draft, she thought that "He had a voice you could tell was quite original," and decided she would work with him. She has also described herself as Green's "fairy godmother".[6] Cooper has also said that while she was working with Green, "He was a horrible slob, and he didn’t do his job all that well."[5]

In 2002-2003, Cooper won a National Jewish Book Award in the Children Literature category for Jewish Holidays All Year Round.[7] In 2007, she won the Illinois Reading Council Prairie State Award for Excellence in Writing for Children.[2][8]

References
  1. "Ilene Cooper". Contemporary Authors. 2004. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  2. "About Ilene Cooper". Ilenecooper.com. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  3. Ingram, Bruce (27 April 2015). "Children's author chronicles history of women in politics". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  4. Blais, Jacqueline (16 August 2001). "Don't cry, parents: Kindergarten is cool!". USA Today. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. Talbot, Margaret (9 June 2014). "The Teen Whisperer". The New Yorker. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. Johnson, Steve (18 May 2012). "Author John Green wins Tribune's Young Adult Literary Prize". Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  7. "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  8. "Illinois Reading Council". www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
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