Mary Stolz (born Mary Slattery, March 24, 1920 – December 15, 2006) was an American writer of fiction for children and young adults. She received the 1953 Child Study Association of America's Children's Book Award for In a Mirror, Newbery Honors in 1962 for Belling the Tiger and 1966 for The Noonday Friends, and her entire body of work was awarded the George G. Stone Recognition of Merit in 1982. Her literary works range from picture books to young-adult novels. Although most of Stolz's works are fiction books, she made a few contributions to magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and Seventeen.

Biography

Early life

Mary Slattery was born on March 24, 1920, in Boston, Massachusetts. Raised in Manhattan, she attended the Birch Wathen School and served as assistant editor of her school magazine, Birch Leaves. She attended Columbia University from 1936 to 1938 and the Katherine Gibbs School.

Marriage and children

At age 18, she married and had one son, Bill. Chronic pain from arthritis worsened and she was housebound by 1949. During this time she began writing to occupy her time and ultimately drafted her first novel, To Tell Your Love (1950), on yellow legal pads. She divorced in 1956. Under doctor Thomas C. Jaleski's care, her disabling symptoms resolved and in 1965, she married Dr. Jaleski.

Career

To Tell Your Love brought Ms. Stolz into the stable of children's book editor Ursula Nordstrom. Mary Stolz admired Ursula Nordstrom, describing her as "a great editor...she reads a manuscript lovingly, but firmly, and I trust her judgement absolutely." She stayed with the Harper publishing company for much of her career, through its incarnations from Harper & Brothers to the present-day HarperCollins. Ms. Stolz wrote one book for adults, Truth and Consequence.

Death and afterward

Ms. Stolz died in Longboat Key, Florida.

Works

Children's fiction

Young adult fiction

Adult fiction

Awards