Sharon Draper

Sharon Mills Draper (born August 21, 1948) is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year.

She is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience.

She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun, Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.

Draper was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Victor D. Mills and Catherine Gachett Mills.

She is the oldest of 3 and has two younger siblings.

Growing up, she played the piano and loved to read.

By eleven she had read nearly every children's book in her local library and was given a special library card in order to be allowed to check out adult books.

Draper earned her Bachelor's Degree, majoring in English, from Pepperdine University and her Master's of Arts degree in English from Miami University of Ohio in 1974.

Post-graduation, she began teaching in Cincinnati public schools.

During this time she became locally famous for her "Draper Paper," a challenging research paper assigned to graduating seniors.

She is married and has four children.

Her own writing career began in 1990 when, as a teacher, she was challenged by a ninth-grade student to "write something."

She entered a short story entitled "One Small Torch" to a writing contest through Ebony magazine.

Upon winning, Draper was awarded five thousand dollars and her story was published.

Among those who wrote to congratulate her was Roots author Alex Haley.

She credits this letter with helping her realize that she could be a writer.

Tears of a Tiger earned the Coretta Scott King Award in 1995.

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.

She was 1997's National Teacher of the Year, and the Ohio State Department of Education named her Ohio Pioneer in Education.

Draper was awarded the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award in 1997.

She was also a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, received the Dean's Award from Howard University School of Education, was recognized with the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, received the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and earned the Governor's Educational Leadership Award.

Forged by Fire, the sequel to Tears of a Tiger, was the 1997 Coretta Scott King Award winner, as well was honored as a 1998 ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

It also received the Parent's Choice Award and the Indiana Young Hoosier Award.

Sharon Draper has five Coretta Scott King Book Awards - Author Award Winner: 1998 Forged by Fire, 2007 Copper Sun; Author Honor: 2004 The Battle of Jericho, 2008 November Blues; John Steptoe Award for New Talent: 1995 Tears of a Tiger.

In 1998 Draper was the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum.

In 2000, she retired from teaching in order to spend more time on her writing.

Draper lives in Cincinnati with her husband.

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 Readers Award for 2006.

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.

She was chosen as one of four authors to speak at the Library of Congress's 2006 National Book Festival in Washington D.C. and represented the United States at the National Book Festival in Moscow.

Draper received the Beacon of Light Humanitarian award in 2008.

In 2011, she received the 33rd annual Jeremiah Ludington Memorial Award by the Educational and Media Association.

She donated her $2,500 prize money to Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati.

It also received the 2011 Sunshine State Young Readers Award.

It was a 2011 IRA Young Adult Choice.

Out of My Mind was chosen the winner of the 2013 Sasquatch Reading Award by the readers of Washington State and the 2013 Bluestem Award by the third through fifth graders of Illinois.

It won the 2013 California Young Reader Medal and the 2013 Nevada Young Readers Award.

She received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2015.