Stephanie S. Tolan’s Followers (96)

Stephanie S. Tolan

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.stephanietolan.com/

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Stephanie S. Tolan's earliest memories involve books. Those that were read to her and those she read to herself, often late at night with a flashlight under the covers. She always thought there was a special magic in the little black marks on paper that could turn into whole worlds and real people. Born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin, she wrote her first story in the fourth grade. It was thrilling to discover she could make the magic herself, and she decided then and there to be a writer.

Other ambitions came and went, but writing stayed on, and she majored in creative writing at Purdue University, then went on to a Master's Degree in English. Marriage and the sudden addition to her life of three young stepsons, and then a son, forced writi Stephanie S. Tolan's earliest memories involve books. Those that were read to her and those she read to herself, often late at night with a flashlight under the covers. She always thought there was a special magic in the little black marks on paper that could turn into whole worlds and real people. Born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin, she wrote her first story in the fourth grade. It was thrilling to discover she could make the magic herself, and she decided then and there to be a writer.

Other ambitions came and went, but writing stayed on, and she majored in creative writing at Purdue University, then went on to a Master's Degree in English. Marriage and the sudden addition to her life of three young stepsons, and then a son, forced writing into the nooks and crannies, but she wrote poetry and plays for adults as she taught college English. In the mid-seventies, Stephanie began working in the Poets-in-the-Schools program in Pennsylvania. Her first group of students were fourth and fifth graders, and she found among them a new generation of intense readers, still using the flashlight-under-the-covers trick.

"They brought back to me that special reading joy that most adults, even the readers among us, have lost, and I wanted to try my hand at writing for those kids, so like myself at their age and yet so different."

The difference, she felt, was less in the children themselves than in the fast-changing world they lived in. Her writing for children and young adults, beginning with Grandpa -- And Me in 1978, has reflected that contemporary world.
Stephanie Tolan is also well known as an advocate for extremely bright children. She co-authored the award-winning nonfiction book, Guiding the Gifted Child, and has written many articles about the challenges gifted "asynchronous" children and adults face as they find a way to fit into their world. She lectures throughout the country to audiences of parents, educators and counselors attempting to find ways to meet the children's needs. Her experiences with these "amazing, off-the-charts" young people inspired the themes of Welcome to the Ark, a powerful novel about four brilliant young misfits in a world teetering on destruction.
Stephanie Tolan currently lives in Charlotte, NC, with her husband. ...more

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Stephanie S. Tolan’s books

Average rating: 3.73 · 16,299 ratings · 1,365 reviews · 40 distinct works • Similar authors

	Surviving the Applewhites (Applewhites, #1) 3.66 avg rating — 11,706 ratings — published 2002 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Listen! 4.06 avg rating — 2,314 ratings — published 2006 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Welcome to the Ark (Ark, #1) 3.86 avg rating — 635 ratings — published 1996 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Applewhites at Wit's End (Applewhites, #2) 3.87 avg rating — 631 ratings — published 2012 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Plague Year 3.76 avg rating — 182 ratings — published 1990 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Applewhites Coast to Coast (Applewhites #3) by Stephanie S. Tolan, R.J. Tolan 3.42 avg rating — 154 ratings — published 2017 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flight of the Raven (Ark, #2) 3.75 avg rating — 134 ratings — published 2001 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wishworks, Inc. 3.26 avg rating — 138 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ordinary Miracles 3.64 avg rating — 69 ratings — published 1999 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Who's There? 3.66 avg rating — 58 ratings — published 1994 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Stephanie S. Tolan…

Series by Stephanie S. Tolan

Applewhites (3 books)
by

Stephanie S. Tolan,

R.J. Tolan

3.67 avg rating — 12,492 ratings

Ark (2 books)
by

Stephanie S. Tolan

3.84 avg rating — 769 ratings

The Great Skinner Family (4 books)
by

Stephanie S. Tolan

3.69 avg rating — 29 ratings

Quotes by Stephanie S. Tolan (?)

“How do we know imagination isn't just a different way of knowing something? A message from outside.”
― Stephanie S. Tolan, Welcome to the Ark

9 likes

“Education is an adventurous quest for the meaning of life, involving an ability to think things through. --Z. Applewhite.”
― Stephanie S. Tolan

8 likes

“It's lonely at midnight in the nuthouse.”
― Stephanie S. Tolan, Welcome to the Ark

5 likes

See all Stephanie S. Tolan's quotes »

Polls

What book would you like to read in January?

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

23 votes, 22.1%

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15 votes, 14.4%

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

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In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

14 votes, 13.5%

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

10 votes, 9.6%

Through to You by Emily Hainsworth

8 votes, 7.7%

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

8 votes, 7.7%

Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin

7 votes, 6.7%

Top 8 by Katie Finn

3 votes, 2.9%

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan

2 votes, 1.9%

104 total votes

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