Nancy Springer (born July 5, 1948) is an American author of fantasy, young adult literature, mystery, and science fiction. Her novel Larque on the Wing won the Tiptree Award in 1994. She also received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her novels Toughing It in 1995 and Looking for Jamie Bridger in 1996. Additionally, she received the Carolyn W. Field Award from the Pennsylvania Library Association in 1999 for her novel I am Mordred. She has written more than fifty books over a career that has spanned nearly four decades. She released her first Enola Holmes book in 2006 and followed by 7 sequels in the series. Her other series include The Book of the Isle fantasy series and the Tales of Rowan Hood. The Enola Holmes Mysteries was adapted in 2020 as the Netflix film Enola Holmes and a 2022 sequel Enola Holmes 2.

Life and career

Nancy Springer was born in Montclair, New Jersey to Harry E. and Helen Connor, moving to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with her family when she was thirteen. As a child, she read a lot about King Arthur and his Round Table and Robin Hood and had often read and reread Sherlock Holmes. She was raised to "speak grammatically" and is well versed with Victorian literature. Her parents were born in 1906 and 1909. Her two older brothers had left the family for college by the time she hit puberty. Her mother was a professional artist, who painted oil portraits of pets. Springer was 14 when her mother's health began to deteriorate due to cancer, menopause and an early-onset form of Alzheimer's. Her parents had purchased a motel, which she helped work. She remained in Pennsylvania for forty-six years, raising two children, Jonathan Paul (born in 1974) and Nora Lynn (born in 1978), by her first husband Joel Springer, a minister and fine art photographer. They were divorced in 1996. She met her second husband, Jaime Fernando Pinto, in 1999, while she was working in a no-kill animal shelter. In 2007, they moved to Bonifay, Florida, in a secluded part of the Florida panhandle, a place conducive to her hobbies of birdwatching, horseback riding and fishing, and his love of aviation.

Works

Collections

Series

The Book of the Isle

Sea King

Tales of Rowan Hood

The Enola Holmes Mysteries

Other novels

Awards and nominations