People like Frances O'Roark Dowell

Frances O'Roark Dowell is an American author of middle-grade fiction, including Dovey Coe (2000), The Secret Language of Girls, Shooting the Moon, and Falling In. Her books have received numerous awards, including an Edgar (Dovey Coe), the William Allen White Children's Book Award (Dovey Coe), the Christopher Award (Shooting the Moon), the VOYA Book Award (Where I'd Like to Be), and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Fiction, Honor Book (Shooting the Moon).

Dovey Coe has been translated into Chinese, French and German. The Secret Language of Girls has been translated into Polish.

The daughter of a US Army lawyer, Frances O'Roark Dowell was born in Germany and moved around frequently as a child. After graduating from high school in Texas, she completed undergraduate studies in English at Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband and two sons.