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Liza Ketchum
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Liza Ketchum has been making up stories since she was seven years old, when she created tiny handmade books and scribbled stories under the covers at night. Her fascination with pioneer history dates back to her teenage years, when she read the autobiography of her mother's ancestor, James Ohio Pattie, a trapper who explored the southwest during the 1820s—the same decade when Orphan Journey Home takes place.
Liza studied writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received a Masters in Education from Antioch Graduate School. She also attended theatre school, where the portrayal of characters onstage helped her to imagine the lives of fictional characters. Liza has always combined writing with teaching. She founded a preschool in Vermont and has taught writing to students of all ages. She is currently on the faculty of Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She has also taught writing in the MFA program at Vermont College, at Emerson College, and at the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College.
Liza is the author of fourteen books for young readers, including the recent historical novel, Where the Great Hawk Flies (Clarion), winner of the 2006 Massachusetts Book Award for Children's Literature, and the Boston Authors Club/Julia Ward Howe Prize for Young Readers. Her passions—besides reading and writing—include her volunteer work on behalf of the environment. She also enjoys gardening, canoeing, hiking, music, art, and theater. Like her husband, John Straus, she is an enthusiastic traveler. Many of her stories have their origins in places they have visited. The mother of two grown sons, Liza and her husband divide their time between the Boston area and a cabin in Vermont’s Green Mountains.
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