Ann M. Martin

Ann Matthews Martin (born August 12, 1955) is an American children's author most well known for writing The Baby-Sitters Club series.^[1]

Early life

Ann Matthews Martin grew up in Princeton, New Jersey with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. Her father was the cartoonist Henry Martin. Martin developed an interest in writing from an early age. Before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.^[2]

Career

After graduating from Smith College, Martin became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She is now a full-time writer.

Martin finds the ideas for her books from many different sources; some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are about contemporary problems or events. All of her characters, including the members of The Baby-Sitters Club, are fictional, but many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes she names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.^[3]

After Martin wrote the first 35 novels in The Baby-Sitters Club series^[4] she has since concentrated on writing single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s. One of those novels, A Corner of the Universe, won a Newbery Honor in 2003.^[5] In 2010, Martin published a prequel to The Baby-Sitters Club series titled The Summer Before.^[6][7]

In 1990, Martin and her colleagues founded "The Lisa Libraries" to honor and memorialize their friend Lisa Novak. This non-profit organization distributes new books to children and establishes libraries in under-served areas.^[8]

Personal life

After living in New York City for many years, Martin moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Pippin, and Willie. Her hobbies include needlepoint, fostering cats, and gardening. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.^[2]

Martin was in a relationship with author Laura Godwin while working on the Doll People books.^[9]

Works

Standalone novels

• Bummer Summer (1983)
• Inside Out (1984)
• Stage Fright (1984)
• Me and Katie (The Pest) (1985)
• Missing Since Monday (1986)
• With and Without You (1986)
• Just a Summer Romance (1987)
• Slam Book (1987)
• Yours Turly, Shirley (1988)
• Ma and Pa Dracula (1989)
• Belle Teal (2001)
• A Corner of the Universe (2002)
• Here Today (2005)
• On Christmas Eve (2006)
• Rain Reign (2014)

Novels and sequels

• Ten Kids, No Pets (1988)
• Eleven Kids, One Summer (1991)
• P.S. Longer Letter Later (1998) with Paula Danziger
• Snail Mail No More (1999) with Paula Danziger
• A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray (2005)
• Everything for a Dog (2009)
• Ten Rules for Living with My Sister (2011)
• Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far) (2012)

Series

• The Baby-Sitters Club series (1986–1990 & 2010)

1. Kristy`s Great Idea
2. Claudia And The Phantom Phone Calls
3. The Truth About Stacey
4. Mary Anne Saves The Day
5. Dawn And The Impossible Three
6. Kristy's Big Day
7. Claudia And Mean Janine
8. Boy-Crazy Stacey
9. The Ghost At Dawns House
10. Logan Likes Mary Anne
11. Kristy And The Snobs
12. Claudia And The New Girl
13. Good Bye Stacey, Good Bye
14. Hello, Mallory
15. Little Miss Stoneybrook... And Dawn
16. Jessi's Secret Language
17. Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery
18. Stacey's Mistake
19. Claudia And The Bad Joke
20. Kristy And The Walking Disaster
21. Mallory And The Trouble With Twins
22. Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter
23. Dawn On The Coast
24. Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise
25. Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger
26. Claudia and the Sad Good-bye
27. Jessi and the Superbrat
28. Welcome Back, Stacey!
29. Mallory and the Mystery Diary
30. Mary Anne and the Great Romance
31. Dawn's Wicked Stepsister
32. Kristy and the Secret of Susan
33. Claudia and the Great Search
34. Mary Anne and Too Many Boys
35. Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook

• The Summer Before

• Baby-Sitters Little Sister series (1988–2000)

• The Kids in Ms. Colman's Class series (1995–1998)
  1. Teacher's Pet (1995)
  2. Author Day (1996)
  3. Class Play (1996)
  4. Second Grade Baby (1996)
  5. The Snow War (1997)
  6. Twin Trouble (1997)
  7. Science Fair (1997)
  8. Summer School (1997)
  9. Halloween Parade (1997)
  10. Holiday Time (1997)
  11. Spelling Bee (1998)
  12. Baby Animal Zoo (1998)
• California Diaries series (1997–2000)

1. Dawn (1997)
2. Sunny (1997)
3. Maggie (1997)
4. Amalia (1997)
5. Ducky (1998)
6. Sunny, Diary Two (1998)
7. Dawn, Diary Two (1998)
8. Maggie, Diary Two (1998)
9. Amalia, Diary Two (1998)
10. Ducky, Diary Two (1998)
11. Dawn, Diary Three (1999)
12. Sunny, Diary Three (1999)
13. Maggie, Diary Three (1999)
14. Amalia, Diary Three (2000)
15. Ducky, Diary Three (2000)

• Main Street (2007–2011)
  1. Welcome to Camden Falls (2007)
  2. Needle and Thread (2007)
  3. 'Tis the Season (2007)
  4. Best Friends (2008)
  5. The Secret Book Club (2008)
  6. September Surprises (2008)
  7. Keeping Secrets (2009)
  8. Special Delivery (2009)
  9. Coming Apart (2010)
  10. Staying Together (2011)
• The Doll People series (2000–2008) with Laura Godwin and Brian Selznick
  1. The Doll People (2000)
  2. The Meanest Doll in the World (2003)
  3. The Runaway Dolls (2008)
  4. The Doll People Set Sail (2014)
• Family Tree (2013-2014)
  1. Better to Wish (2013)
  2. The Long Way Home (2013)
  3. Best Kept Secret (2014)
  4. Home Is the Place (2014)

Picture books

• Rachel Parker, Kindergarten Showoff (1992) with illustrations by Nancy Poydar
• Leo The Magnificat (1996) with illustrations by Emily Arnold McCully

Short stories

• 8 x 2 = Sweet Sixteen, a short story featuring Karen Brewer included in the children's anthology It's Great to Be Eight (2000)
• The Lost Art of Letter Writing, a short story included in the young adult anthology What You Wish For (2011)

Other works

• Because of Shoe and Other Dog Stories (edited) (2012)

References

External links

• Ann M. Martin at publisher Scholastic
• Ann M. Martin by Margaret Becker, 1993
• Ann M. Martin at Library of Congress Authorities, with 354 catalog records