Books for Kids & Young Adults

Buffalo Books and More offers a list of books, media, and resources for young adults and children interested in local history and facts, including an assortment of books written by local authors, including memoirs, and how-to-guides.

Buffalo and WNY Children's & Young Adults Authors

Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth

(May 31, 1893 – August 31, 1986) was an American author of children's fiction and poetry. Born in Buffalo, New York, she attended Buffalo Seminary for High School, then graduated from Vassar College in 1915 and received a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1916. She was an international traveler, which later influenced her writing. Her first publications were poems in magazines, and her first book published was Fox Footprints (1923). Her novel The Cat Who Went to Heaven won the 1931 Newbery Medal. Over 80 of her children's books have been published, including "Away Goes Sally," "Five Bushel Farm," "The White Horse," "The Fair American," and "The Wonderful Day."

Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was

an American writer and educator from Buffalo, New York. Born Thelma Lucille Sayles, she graduated from Fosdick-Masten Park High School in 1953. She went on to study on a scholarship at Howard University from 1953 to 1955, and after leaving over poor grades, studied at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Clifton remained employed in state and federal government positions until 1971, when she became a writer in residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she completed two collections: Good News About the Earth (1972) and An Ordinary Woman (1974). Her series of children's books about a young black boy began with 1970's Some of the Days of Everett Anderson. Everett Anderson, a recurring character in many of her books, spoke in authentic African-American dialect and dealt with real life social problems. Other books in the Everett series include, Everett Anderson's Goodbye, which won the 1984 Coretta Scott King Award, Everett Anderson's 1-2-3, One of the Problems of Everett Anderson, Everett Anderson's Christmas Coming, and Everett Anderson's Friend. Some of her other children's books include The Lucky Stone, The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Spring, and The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children.

Margery Facklam was born in Buffalo, New York,

Margery grew up dreaming of becoming an explorer, especially in the Galapagos Islands and the Gobi Desert. She loved science and kept a snake in her bedroom and a variety of animals in the backyard. Her summer job while in high school was at the reptile house of the Buffalo Zoo where Marlin Perkins was the director before starting his wildlife TV program, Wild Kingdom. "He taught me more about snakes than any number of college courses ever could do." Ms. Facklam earned a biology degree from the University of Buffalo where she earned her tuition by taking care of thirteen porcupines and other animals in the biology department's animal house. "I even know how to give a porcupine a bath!" Writing became a hobby when her children were very young. After earning a master's degree in science education at Buffalo State College, Margery became curator of Education at the Aquarium of Niagara Falls and then Coordinator of Education at the Buffalo Zoo. These opportunities led Margery to realize what children really love to know about natural history. Recipient of many honors and awards for her books, Margery now visits schools often telling children stories of real animals, real scientists, and her real travels. Her research has taken her to many parts of the world, including the Galapagos Islands and the Gobi Desert. "I am a kind of explorer in a small way as I research books." Magery Facklam lives in Western New York with her husband. Her published books include Bugs for Lunch, New York: The Empire State, What Does the Crow Know?: The Mysteries of Animal Intelligence, Bees Dance and Whales Sing: The Mysteries of Animal Communication.

Maria T. DiVencenzo is an award-winning author and publisher of books for children. Her most recent publications, The Scariest Dream Ever (Winterlake Press, 2010) and The Star of Christmas (Winterlake Press, 2009,) have been recognized with multiple industry awards. As a HarperCollins author, Maria wrote Little House in Brookfield, Little Town at the Crossroads, and Little Clearing in the Woods, novels depicting the childhood of Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, Caroline. Intent on producing exceptional books that delight, inspire and support children, DiVencenzo founded Winterlake Press in 2008. An independent publisher, Winterlake Press uses proceeds from book sales to support children's programs in schools and libraries. In 2010, Winterlake Press became a founding sponsor of HeroConnect.org, a storybook support program that connects deployed US service men and women with their families back home. Maria lives in Western New York with her husband, four children, and shaggy black schnoodle.

Jan Siebold was born in Buffalo, New York to parents Wayne and Elizabeth Millard. She has an older sister, Ellen, and a younger brother, Jim. Jan credits her parents and grandparents for instilling in her a love of books, reading and writing. After obtaining her undergraduate degree from SUNY Fredonia and the Universite de Besanson, France, Jan received her Master's Degree in Library Science from the University of Buffalo. She was an elementary school librarian for over 30 years. "I love bringing kids and books together," says Jan. "Books can show us what is possible in the world. They can help us to shape the stories of our own lives." Jan's career as an author began when she attended a writing seminar at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. After the seminar she began to write articles for newspapers and educational journals. Her first book for children, Rope Burn, was published in 1998. Her other works include, Doing Time Online, and My Nights at the Improv. Jan lives with her husband, Jim, in East Aurora, New York. Since her retirement from the East Aurora schools she has written chapters for two books which were published by the American Library Association. Jan was also a contributing author for the WNED Teacher's Guide which accompanies the documentary film Elbert Hubbard ... An American Original. She enjoys hiking, biking, snowshoeing and "doing time" with a good book.

Linda Sue Park was born in Urbana, Illinois on March 25, 1960, grew up outside Chicago, and currently resides in Rochester, NY. The daughter of Korean immigrants, she has been writing poems and stories since she was four years old, and her favorite thing to do as a child was read. During elementary school and high school, Linda Sue had several poems published in magazines for children and young people. She went to Stanford University, competed for the gymnastics team, and graduated with a degree in English. Then she took a job as a public-relations writer for a major oil company. This was not exactly the kind of writing she wanted to do, but it did teach her to present her work professionally and that an interested writer can make any subject fascinating. In 1983, after two years with the oil company, Linda Sue left her job and moved to Dublin when a handsome Irishman swept her off her feet. She studied literature, moved to London, worked for an advertising agency, married that Irishman, had a baby, taught English as a second language to college students, worked as a food journalist, and had another baby. It was a busy time, and she never even thought about writing children's books. In 1990, she and her family moved back to the U.S. because of her husband's job. Linda Sue continued teaching English to foreign students. It took her quite a while, but she finally realized that what she really wanted to do was to write books for children. In 1997, she started writing her first book, Seesaw Girl. It was accepted that same year and published in 1999. Other notable books by Park include, The Kite Fighters, A Single Shard, When My Name Was Keoko, Project Mulberry, Keeping Score, Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems), What Does Bunny See?, and Bee-Bim Bop!

Mary Jane (MJ) Auch and Herm Auch are a husband

and wife author/illustrator team. MJ started out writing middle grade novels, and had nine of them published before branching out into writing and illustrating picture books. Herm spent forty years as a graphic artist, editorial cartoonist, and digital artist in the newspaper business. Now Herm and MJ co-illustrate their picture books, combining MJ’s paintings or sculptures with Herm’s digital magic. To clear up the confusion about how to pronounce Auch, it's Owk -- with the ow sounding the same way it does in owl. To clear up further confusion about the difference between Mary Jane Auch and MJ Auch, there isn't any. MJ still uses Mary Jane for all of the picture books, but most of the more recent novels are written under MJ, which is the name her friends call her. Herm and MJ live on a small farm in Rochester, NY with their two dogs, Sophie and Zeke. Their published books include A Dog On His Own, Ashes of Roses, Beauty and the Beaks: A Turkey's Cautionary Tale, Chickerella, Journey to Nowhere, The Nutquacker, Peeping Beauty, Poultrygeist, Souperchicken, The Easter Egg Farm, The Plot Chickens, The Princess and the Pizza.

Jay Williams (May 31, 1914 – July 12, 1978) was an American author born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Max and Lillian Jacobson. He cited the experience of growing up as the son of a vaudeville show producer as leading him to pursue his acting career as early as college. Between 1931 and 1934 he attended the University of Pennsylvania and where he took part in amateur theatrical productions.Columbia University. Out of school and out of work during the end of the Depression, he worked as a comedian on the upstate New York Borscht Belt circuit. From 1936 until 1941, Jay Williams worked as a press agent for Dwight Deere Winman, Jed Harris and the Hollywood Theatre Alliance. And even though he played a feature role in the Cannes prize winning film, The Little Fugitive produced in 1953, he turned his attention to writing as a full time career after his discharge from the Army in 1945. He was the recipient of the Purple Heart. While serving in the Army he published his first book, The Stolen Oracle, in 1943. Williams may be best-known for his young adult "Danny Dunn" science fiction/fantasy series which he co-authored with Raymond Abrashkin. Though Abrashkin died in 1960, he is listed as co-author of all 15 books of this series, which continued from 1956 until 1977. Jay Williams also wrote mysteries for young adults, such as The Stolen Oracle, The Counterfeit African, and The Roman Moon Mystery. Other notable children's books include, Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like, Petronella, and Joan of Arc: Warrior Saint.