Creator
Patricia McCormick
American journalist and young adult novelist whose novel Never Fall Down is based on the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.
Patricia McCormick is an American journalist and writer of realistic fiction for young adults whose novel Never Fall Down (2012) is based on the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.[1][2] She has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award, in 2006 and 2012.[3]
Career
McCormick studied at Rosemont College, earned a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, and received an MFA from the New School in 1999.[1][4] She began her career as a newspaper journalist and later reviewed children's books and films.[4] Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, AARP and Oldster, and she has performed at The Moth.[5][1] She has held fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and MacDowell.[4]
Her books rest on research and interviews. She describes that research as the frame of each story, with imagination adding depth to the facts.[1][3] Her subjects include self-injury in Cut (2000) and sex trafficking in Sold (2006), which she researched in brothels in India.[5][1] Her other books include My Brother's Keeper (2005) and Purple Heart (2009).[1] She co-wrote the young readers' edition of I Am Malala (2014), her first co-writing credit.[5][6] The Plot to Kill Hitler (2016), about the pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was named a Publishers Weekly Top Ten book. Her first picture book, Sgt. Reckless, about a small horse that became a war hero, was published in fall 2017.[4][5] A film of Sold, with Gillian Anderson, was released on April 1, 2016.[4] As of 2026, her memoir If It's True, I'd Want to Know was due from St. Martin's Press in 2027.[3]
Never Fall Down
Never Fall Down tells the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who survived the Khmer Rouge years in Cambodia as a boy by learning to play an instrument and perform revolutionary songs for Khmer Rouge soldiers.[2][4] McCormick met him through a neighbor.[7] She interviewed him for two years, and also spoke with surviving members of his family, his American adoptive family and former Khmer Rouge members. She read widely about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge and did archival research.[8][7]
She traveled through Cambodia with Arn for a month. They visited his childhood home, the town square where he had danced for coins, and the Wat Aik prison camp. She hired an independent translator to interview former members of his band.[7] Together they also went to northern Cambodia to interview an important former Khmer Rouge member.[8] Her early drafts stuck closely to the facts. She then rewrote the book in a voice drawn from Arn's own speech, keeping his broken English rather than correcting his grammar.[7][6][9]
The novel was published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins. It was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.[2] The judges said it portrays Cambodian life under the Khmer Rouge through harsh vignettes.[2]
McCormick has also spoken with the Cambodian American author Loung Ung at the Asia Society in New York, about Ung's memoir Lulu in the Sky.[10]
Recognition
- National Book Award finalist, for Sold (2006) and Never Fall Down (2012, Young People's Literature)[3][2]
- Gustav-Heinemann Peace Prize: 2009 on her own site, 2008 on Wikipedia[3][1]
- American Library Association: Top Ten Quick Pick (2000) and Best Books for Young Adults (2002), both for Cut; Top Ten Best Books of the Year (2006); Best Book for Young Adults (2007)[1][3]
- Booklist Editor's Choice (2006); Booklist Top Ten Women's History Books for Youth (2007)[3]
- Best books lists of National Public Radio (2006), the Chicago Public Library (2006 and 2012), the Chicago Tribune (2006), Huffington Post, iTunes and School Library Journal (2012)[3][1]
- Publishers Weekly Best 100 Books (2006) and Best 25 Books (2009)[3]
- New York Public Library Best Books for the Teenage (2000, 2004, 2006 and 2012)[3][1]
- New York Times Notable selection (2012)[1]
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (2007)[3]
- Children's Literature Council's Choice (2000 and 2006); Teen People Book-of-the-Month (2000); Book Sense Pick (winter 2006); IndieBound Pick (autumn 2009)[3]
- Texas Bluebonnet Award, for Sgt. Reckless[5]
Works
- Never Fall Down (Book)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Patricia McCormick (author), Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 National Book Foundation, Never Fall Down
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Patricia McCormick official site, About
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Patricia McCormick official site, Bio
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Patricia McCormick official site
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Smithsonian BookDragon, Never Fall Down (March 27, 2017)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Publishers Weekly, Q & A with Patricia McCormick
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Goodreads, Never Fall Down
- ↑ Common Sense Media, Never Fall Down
- ↑ Asia Society, Loung Ung: Lulu in the Sky