Karen Hesse

Karen S. Hesse (born August 29, 1952) is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings. She won the Newbery Medal for Out of the Dust (Scholastic, 1997). 2Life Karen was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She studied poetry at nearby Towson State College and married Randy Hesse in 1971 before completing her studies. She attended college at Towson University, University of Maryland and College Park. She earned a B.A. in English with double minors in psychology, and anthropology, during which she began writing poetry. After graduating, she moved with her husband to Brattleboro, Vermont, had two children, Rachel and Kate, took jobs in publishing, and started writing children's books. 2Awards Hesse was a MacArthur Fellow in 2002. For Out of the Dust (Scholastic, 1997), she won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association, recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children", and the annual Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Letters from Rifka (MacMillan, 1992) won an International Reading Association Award and a National Jewish Book Awar