Margaret Peterson Haddix Books

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Margaret Peterson Haddix is an award-winning American author that writes children’s fiction. Born in 1964 in Ohio between Sabina and Washington Court House, Margaret grew up on a farm. She wasn’t the first bookworm in her family.

Her mother would often pull her from a book to point out interesting sights during long trips. Then she would laugh after realizing that she was doing to Margaret what her own parents once did to her.

Margaret was happiest when she had a book in her hands. She eventually passed this same bug down to her children. She had plenty of moments when they were young where she had to push them to put their novels down to take note of some peculiarity in the world outside.

Margaret imputes her dedication to books to the fact that the characters she encountered in titles like The Little Princess, Little Women, and Anne of Green Gables felt so real. To the author, her favorite protagonists were her friends, no different in their importance from the real people in her life.

It wasn’t that surprising when Margaret decided that she wanted to pursue writing as a career. Though, her certainty regarding this career choice did not last. Margaret read a lot of storybooks. However, she also read practical literature such as newspapers and magazines.

The information she gleaned showed her that she had to take a more pragmatic approach to her career choice. After realizing that a life of writing and publishing did not guarantee success, she decided to take the safer route by studying Journalism at Miami University (Oxford). Though, the author also majored in Creative Writing.

Margaret was an active student. She tried her hand at everything, not only acting in plays but singing in the school choir, joining the symphonic band, and even playing the flute. She wasn’t gifted in any of those areas. However, her school was so small that students were permitted to experiment with any activity that piqued their interest.

In college, things were different. Most of the activities that Margaret tried were writing-related and they helped her hone her skills. After college, Margaret became a reporter. She loved the opportunity the career gave her to interact with so many different people.

She was also fascinated by the fact that her subjects were so willing to answer the questions she presented to them. While she never misrepresented the facts she acquired during interviews, the things Margaret heard regularly would inspire her imagination. She started creating plots and characters in her mind.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find the time to write them down. After spending the whole day writing, Margaret did not want to spend her free time at night doing the same thing. Her big break came when her husband, a journalist, became an editor at a Danville, Illinois newspaper and Margaret realized that he was going to become her boss.

The couple agreed that working together in such a setting wasn’t conducive to their relationship. So the author abandoned journalism. She took part-time jobs as a teacher and freelance writer. This gave her the time to write her stories.

The first stage of her publishing career was long and painful. She kept accumulating rejection letters. Margaret was already pregnant with her second child by the time her first two books were sold. The achievement was exhilarating. But it also marked the start of one of the author’s busiest periods.

With children to care for, she could only write during their naptime. This was a time during which she would have preferred to sleep as well. But she persevered all the same, eventually writing and publishing dozens of books.

Margaret Peterson Haddix Awards

Margaret won the California Young Readers Medal, the Maud Hard Lovelace Award, and the Nevada Young Reader’s Award.

Best Margaret Peterson Haddix Books

Margaret writes novels and short stories for children and teenagers. Some of her best novels include:

Among the Hidden: Luke is a shadow child. As far as the population police are concerned, he is a forbidden entity, which is why he has spent his entire life in hiding. Things change for Luke when he meets Jen, a shadow child who doesn’t want to play by the rules.

Found: Jonah thought he was normal. Yes, the 13-year-old was adopted but that meant nothing to him. He had no idea that he was at the center of a conflict between opposing forces until someone started sending him letters with mysterious messages.

When Does The Next Margaret Peterson Haddix book come out?

Margaret Peterson Haddix doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Stolen Key and was released on September, 10th 2024. It is the newest book in the Mysteries of Trash and Treasure Series.

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