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Anne Emery (young adult writer)

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This article is about an author of teenage romance novels. For the mystery author, see Anne Emery.
Anne Emery
BornAnne Eleanor McGuigan[1]
Sep 1, 1907
Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
DiedJuly 4, 1987(1987-07-04) (aged 79)[2]
Menlo Park, California, U.S.
Alma materNorthwestern University
GenreYoung adult fiction
Years active1946–1980
SpouseJohn Douglas Emery
Children5

Anne Emery (September 1, 1907 – July 4, 1987) was the writer of popular teen romance novels from 1946 to 1980.

Personal life

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Anne Emery, née Anne Eleanor McGuigan, was born Sep 1, 1907 in Fargo, North Dakota. She was raised in Evanston, Illinois, attended Northwestern University, and then taught school in Evanston. She married John Douglas Emery in 1933. They had four daughters and one son.[1] Emery died July 4, 1987, in Menlo Park, California.[2]

Writing career

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In 1941, Emery began writing short stories.[1] Her first sale was a 500-word story for $1.25.[3] Her first novel, Tradition, explored the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II through the eyes of a white protagonist.[4] Tradition, which received favorable reviews, was one of four children's books recommended for National Brotherhood Week by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.[5]

Emery went on to write dozens of what were sometimes known as "malt shop novels".[6] In multiple books, Emery addressed the fashion of going steady by exposing the potential negatives of the trend. In Going Steady, she illustrates this through a couple who married too young, the wife pregnant and the husband trapped in a menial job.[7]

Although many of Emery's novels fit the formulaic stereotype of teen romance, the set of novels featuring Dinny Gordon, a high-school student with a passion for archeology, focuses on the growth and development of the title character rather than the machinations of finding a boyfriend.[8] In writing the Dinny Gordon books, Emery is described as a "transitional author", bridging the domestic patterns of the 1950s and the more female career-oriented 1960s. Joyce Litton characterizes the themes of independence, nontraditional career choices, and Dinny's refusal to be obsessed with her appearance as a "harbinger of later feminist critiques".[7] The character Dinny Gordon was unusual at the time in teen fiction for her intellectual passion; for instance, she worked at part-time jobs to save money for a trip to Pompeii rather than for clothes and make-up.[9]

In Free Not to Love, Emery addresses teen-age sex and, rather than showing heavy-handed consequences, has her protagonist reach the conclusion that sex is not a solution to loneliness.[10]

In addition to over 30 teen romance novels, Emery wrote seven historical novels for children. Several of her books were translated into Japanese, one into German, and several were combined into an Italian compilation.

Her manuscripts and correspondence are preserved at the University of Oregon Library (Eugene).[2] In the 2000s, her books were reissued by Image Cascade Publishing.[11]

Reception

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Reviewers for the New York Times generally praised Emery's books. Of Mountain Laurel: "An uncommonly good novel for older girls" and "the background, good as it is, never obscures the humanity of the characters".[12] E. L. B., reviewing Sorority Girl, praised Emery for "her usual acute understanding of present-day teen-ager problems".[13] Gerald Raftery declared that her historical novel, A Spy in Old Detroit, was "soundly researched, the story follows the facts faithfully".[14] Phyllis Whitney praised Senior Year for "sound values presented in a way that makes its points without preaching" and added "particularly praiseworthy is the way Anne Emery has handled the matter of drinking among young people."[15] An exception was That Archer Girl, about which the reviewer said that the title character "might well be a good subject for a psychiatric case study, she is too humorless to be an appealing villainess".[16]

Jill Anderson writes that "Emery consistently used the formulaic nature of the junior novel, with its emphasis on personal growth and adjustment, to explore more challenging ethical issues, from cheating to urban and Appalachian poverty to anti-Semitism and prejudice against Nisei internees."[9]

As contrasted to fellow teen romance authors such as Rosamond du Jardin, critics felt Emery's books presented a more realistic presentation of teen love.[8]

While not every novel was favorably received,[17] Richard Alm labeled Emery "a novelist of considerable merit" and described her books as "well-told stories about credible adolescents".[18]

Publication history

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Release Title Publisher OCLC Illustrator
1946 Tradition Vanguard Press 1687280 Ruth King
1947 Bright Horizons G. P. Putnam 1684714 Raymond Vartanian
1948 Mystery of the Opal Ring Westminster Press 693578815
1948 Mountain Laurel G. P. Putnam 1011018156
1949 Senior Year Scholastic Book Service 8450581
1952 Scarlet Royal Westminster Press 1098803234 Manning de V Lee
1952 Sorority Girl Westminster Press 299588 Richard Horwitz
1953 Vagabond Summer Westminster Press 1682837
1953 County Fair: a 4-H romance Macrae Smith 1683923
1954 High Note, Low Note Westminster Press 1619059
1955 Campus Melody Westminster Press 1825366
1955 Hickory Hill: a 4-H romance Macrae Smith 1683901
1956 Sweet Sixteen Macrae Smith 575946097
1956 First Love, True Love Westminster Press 654279
1957 First Orchid for Pat Westminster Press 607261906
1957 Married on Wednesday Berkley 9968468
1958 A Spy in Old Philadelphia Rand McNally 26499410 Herman B. Vestal
1958 A Dream to Touch Macrae Smith 1281634
1958 First Love Farewell Westminster Press 1282662
1959 Going Steady Scholastic Book Service 5718278
1959 Dinny Gordon, Freshman Macrae Smith 1020641609
1959 That Archer Girl Westminster Press 1281133
1960 A Spy in Old New Orleans Rand McNally 1418233 Emil Weiss
1961 Dinny Gordon, Sophomore Macrae Smith 1281674
1961 The Popular Crowd Westminster Press 1296714
1963 A Spy in Old Detroit Rand McNally 37201650 Herman B. Vestal
1964 Dinny Gordon, Junior Macrae Smith 1285967
1965 The Losing Game Westminster Press 10245012
1965 A Spy in Old West Point Rand McNally 26499491 Lorence F. Bjorklund
1965 Dinny Gordon, Senior Macrae Smith 962865198
1966 Joan of Arc Harper & Row 960849617 Janice Holland
1966 Jennie Lee, Patriot Westminster Press 1417512
1967 American Friend: Herbert Hoover Rand McNally 1170289
1968 Danger in a Smiling Mask Westminster Press 448795
1969 Carey's Fortune Westminster Press 27261
1970 The Sky is Falling Westminster Press 100037
1975 Free Not to Love Westminster Press 1055588
1980 Stepfamily Westminster Press 5831056

References

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  1. ^ a b c Fuller, Muriel (1963). More Junior Authors. H. W. Wilson Company. pp. 75-76. ISBN 0-8242-0036-5.
  2. ^ a b c "Anne Emery papers, 1941-1985". Archives West. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. ^ Kegler, Stanley B.; Dunning, Stephen (May 1963). "Junior Book Roundup". The English Journal. 52 (5): 398–400. doi:10.2307/810475. JSTOR 810475.
  4. ^ Robinson, Greg (2015). "Writing the Internment". In Crystal Parikh, Daniel Y. Kim (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Asian American Literature. Cambridge University Press. pp. 45–58. ISBN 978-1107095175.
  5. ^ Robinson, Greg. "The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great: Anne Emery's novel reflected her 'deep sympathy' for JA camp survivors". Nichi Bei. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  6. ^ Kaufman, Joanne (7 Jan 2018). "For the Love of Malt Shop Novels". New York Times Book Review.
  7. ^ a b Litton, Joyce (March 2006). "Dinny Gordon: Proto-Feminist". The Journal of American Culture. 29 (1): 43–51. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.2006.00274.x.
  8. ^ a b Carpan, Carolyn. (2009). Sisters, schoolgirls, and sleuths: girls' series books in America. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 84–91. ISBN 9780810857568. OCLC 245021822.
  9. ^ a b Anderson, Jill (Spring 2014). "Dinny Gordon, Intellectual: Anne Emery's Postwar Junior Fiction and Girls' Intellectual Culture". Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 7 (2): 197–198. doi:10.1353/hcy.2014.0027. S2CID 143517133.
  10. ^ Gillis, Bryan (2015). Reading Between the Sheets: Sexual content in young adult novels. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 49. ISBN 9781442246874.
  11. ^ "Anne Emery Books". Image Cascade Publishing. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  12. ^ Buell, Ellen Lewis. "Mountain Laurel". New York Times. No. 28 Nov 1948.
  13. ^ E. L. B. "Sorority Girl". New York Times. No. 30 Mar 1952.
  14. ^ Raftery, Gerald. "A Spy in Old Detroit". New York Times. No. 15 Feb 1964.
  15. ^ Whitney, Phyllis. "Senior Year". New York Times. No. 10 Jul 1949.
  16. ^ A. E. "That Archer Girl". New York Times. No. 1 Nov 1959.
  17. ^ Carlsen, C. Robert (Sep 1954). "High Note, Low Note Review". The English Journal. 43 (6): 344. JSTOR 809253.
  18. ^ Alm, Richard S. (Sep 1955). "The Glitter and the Gold". The English Journal. 44 (6): 315–322. doi:10.2307/808927. JSTOR 808927. S2CID 150333557.
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