Deborah Hopkinson (born February 4, 1952) is an American writer of over seventy children's books, primarily historical fiction, nonfiction and picture books.

Personal life and education

Hopkinson was born February 4, 1952, in Lowell, Massachusetts to Russell W. and Gloria D. Hopkinson. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973 and a Master of Arts from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1978. Hopkinson is married to Andrew D. Thomas, and the couple has two children: Rebekah and Dimitri. She presently lives near Portland, Oregon.

Career

Before writing full-time, Hopkinson worked as a philanthropic fundraiser with Oregon State University, Whitman College, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. From 1981 to 1984, she served as the marketing director for the Manoa Valley Theater in Honolulu. Afterwards, she worked as a development director at the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation (1985 to 1989), then the East–West Center in Honolulu (1989 to 1994). For the next decade, she was the director of grants at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, after which she served as the director for foundation relations for the Oregon State University Foundation in Corvallis, Oregon. Hopkinson published her first book in 1993 and has since published more than 70 books for children, including the Sibert Honor title, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster.

Awards and honors

Twenty-three of Hopkinson's books are Junior Library Guild selections: In 2012, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster was named one of the best nonfiction children's books of the year by The Horn Book Magazine. In 2017, Booklist included Steamboat School on their "Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth" list. In 2019, Carter Reads the Newspaper was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Public Library and the New York Public Library. The Story of a Story was included in the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices 2021.

Selected books

Picture books

Early Readers

Middle Grade