Author Study Biography

My first encounter that I remember with reading was in 1^st grade.  Every Monday morning, my teacher would take the whole class to the library to hear a story and check one book out. The librarian would pick all types of books each week to share with us to help spark our interest. We were not limited to the section we had to read. When I moved to Florida in middle school, things were different. The word “accelerated reading” came up in conversation with my teacher. This is where I began to turn away from reading. I hated being told that I only had so many days to finish a book and I would need to pass a test on it by the end of the week.  After hearing about AR it was not enjoyable any more. My only goal now was to simple pass the reading test with a 70 or above.

For this assignment, I first looked over the list and knew only about ten of the authors. I decided to pick an author at random, so that I would be able to learn something new about someone. I decided on Christopher Paul Curtis. I immediately “Googled” his name to see what kind of author he was labeled as. To be honest, I felt way out of my element with what I discovered. I enjoy reading books about adventure, love, and mystery. His writing on the other hand was something that I would have to get use to ----fast!

                                               Christopher Paul Curtis

“Work at your craft, write daily, and follow your dreams because dreams do come true."  - Christopher Paul Curtis

Biography: He was born on May 10, 1953 in Flint Michigan. Christopher went to public school where he took part in the Academic Gifted Program. In 1967, he was elected for student council which resulted in him being the first African – American student to hold a council position at the school. After completing high school, Christopher waited more than ten years to further his education at the University of Michigan – Flint (in 1999) where he received his bachelor’s degree.  

            Curtis is an award winning author of both Bud Not Buddy and The Watsons go to Birmingham – 1963. His work is seen in mostly middle school to early high school novels. At this age group, students can really understand and relate to the type of feelings that are possessed in each of the characters. Within many of his novels, Curtis bases his characters off of his actual family members. For example, characters in Bud Not Buddy are actually influenced by his grandfathers.  The center themes that are consistently seen within his work are family, love and hope.