October 7

"Hilarious and heartbreaking" (Booklist); "VanOosting knows his milieu and sketches it with loving warmth" (School Library Journal).

Author of eight books, including three novels for young readers, James VanOosting is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seton Hall University. The first of his books for young readers, Maxie's Ghost (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1987) was praised as "wonderful, life-affirming" (Kirkus Reviews) and his second, Electing J.J (1990) was named one of the "Best Books of 1990" by Parents magazine and was optioned to Disney Television. His most recent novel is The Last Payback (HarperCollins, 1997). Sharon Taylor, Professor of Humanities and Performing Arts at Southwestern College, Chula Vista, has collaborated with James VanOosting on research into the politics of visual narratives and transnational communication.