Wojciechowska, Maia << voy cheh HAWV skah, MY ah >> (1927-2002), was a Polish American author of novels for young adults. She won the 1965 Newbery Medal for Shadow of a Bull (1964). The medal is awarded annually to the best children’s book written by an American.
In Shadow of a Bull, Wojciechowska described how a Spanish boy named Manolo must decide between fulfilling his dream of being a doctor or following his father as a bullfighter. The novel is typical of Wojciechowska’s fiction in its exploration of central characters trying to find their real identity as they face crucial life decisions. She also wrote about bullfighting in The Life and Death of a Brave Bull (1972).
Several of Wojciechowska’s books deal with problems confronting teenagers, such as divorce, drug misuse, and suicide. The central character in The Hollywood Kid (1966) is the only child of a famous movie star. The boy feels lonely and emotionally isolated. He has received material advantages but lacks a wholesome family life. A Single Light (1968) tells about a girl with a hearing and speech impairment who, because of her disability, is rejected by her family and the people in the Spanish village where she lives. Tuned Out (1968) is one of the first young adult novels that deals with drug misuse. Don’t Play Dead Before You Have To (1970) is a monologue by a teenager who talks about depression and suicide.
The novel How God Got Christian into Trouble (1984) tells about 11-year-old Christian Wolny and how God, appearing as a small boy, spends several days with him. Through God’s influence, Christian overcomes his pessimistic attitude toward life.
Late in her career, Wojciechowska wrote a series of Dreams of… stories that focused on popular activities, especially sports. The series began with Dreams of Golf (1993) and continued with such titles as Dreams of Ice Dancing (1994), Dreams of Teaching (1995), and Dreams of the Indy Five Hundred (1997).
Maia Teresa Wojciechowska was born on Aug. 7, 1927, in Warsaw, Poland. She fled the country with her family to France in 1939 at the beginning of World War II (1939-1945). The family eventually settled in the United States in 1942. Wojciechowska wrote about those years in her autobiographical work Till the Break of Day: Memories, 1939-1942 (1972). She became a U.S. citizen in 1950.
Wojciechowska led a varied and colorful life. At one time or another, she was a professional tennis player, beautician, magazine editor, and undercover detective, and she studied to be a bullfighter. She was also a poet and translated Polish writers into English. Wojciechowska was married to the American poet Seldon Rodman from late 1950 until they divorced in 1957. She wrote her first children’s book, Market Day for Ti Andre, in 1952 under the name Maia Rodman. Wojciechowska died on June 13, 2002.
