Stead, << stehd, >> Rebecca (1968-…), an American author of children’s books, won the 2010 Newbery Medal for her novel When You Reach Me (2009). The Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the best children’s book by an American. When You Reach Me is Stead’s second book for young readers. It centers on Miranda, a sixth-grade girl in New York City. The story involves a mystery and time travel.
Stead gained recognition for her first children’s book, First Light (2007). The central character is a 12-year-old boy named Peter. The action takes place on the island of Greenland. There, Peter encounters a group of people who live in ice far below Greenland’s surface. The novel mixes fantasy and adventure with an exploration of the dangers of worldwide climate change. Stead also wrote Liar & Spy (2012), a realistic mystery story about a seventh-grade boy living in New York City, and Goodbye Stranger (2015), which looks at the way in which changing relationships affect a group of seventh graders and their parents. The List of Things That Will Not Change (2020) explores anxieties, hopes, and surprises after young Bea’s parents divorce and many parts of her life become different.
Stead was born in New York City on Jan. 16, 1968. She graduated from Vassar College with a bachelor’s degree in 1989. Stead earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from New York University in 1994. She worked as a lawyer and public defender for several years before devoting herself to writing.
