Jane Kurtz facts for kids

Jane Kurtz (born April 17, 1952) is an American author who writes many books for young people. She has written over thirty books, including picture books, novels for middle schoolers, and non-fiction.

Jane Kurtz also teaches writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a big supporter of reading and writing all over the world. She helped create a group called Ethiopia Reads. This group has built more than seventy libraries for children. They have also published books and built four schools in rural Ethiopia.

Growing Up in Ethiopia

Jane Kurtz was born in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. But when she was two years old, her parents moved the family to Ethiopia. Her parents, Harold and Pauline Kurtz, worked there for the Presbyterian Church for 23 years.

After learning the local language in Addis Ababa, her family moved to Maji, Ethiopia. This was in the far southwest of the country. The trip to Maji was long, even in a Jeep. It took a whole day to drive just 32 miles! Sometimes, they traveled by mule, which took two days. Maji was high up, at 8,000 feet. This is where Jane first learned to read. Her mom, Polly Kurtz, taught Jane and her sisters at home.

The family lived in Boise, Idaho, for one year when Jane was in second grade. After they returned to Ethiopia, Jane was homeschooled for another year. Then, she went to Good Shepherd boarding school in Addis Ababa for fourth grade. She stayed there until her junior year of high school. She spent her eighth-grade year in Pasadena, California. Her novel, Jakarta Missing, tells a fictional story about what it was like to leave East Africa and live in the United States as a teenager.

After high school, Jane Kurtz went to Monmouth College in Illinois. She studied psychology and graduated in 1973. Right after graduation, she was in a small plane crash with her father in Ethiopia. She had to wear a body cast for about six months before she could start working.

Jane Kurtz's Career

Jane Kurtz worked at the Carbondale New School in Carbondale, Illinois. This was a private school for young students. She started as a writing teacher, then became the director. Later, she taught a class of third and fourth graders. When her husband got a job in Trinidad, Colorado, she taught English at Trinidad Catholic High School for five years. She also led a group that helped develop downtown Trinidad. She was part of the Colorado Council on the Arts before moving to Grand Forks, North Dakota. There, she earned her master's degree in English and taught at the university.

Becoming a Published Author

Jane Kurtz loved reading and talking about books with young people. This inspired her to try writing her own stories. Her first picture book was I’m Calling Molly. She got the idea for this book by watching her son play with a neighbor.

For her second picture book, Fire on the Mountain, Jane Kurtz used stories from her childhood in Ethiopia. This book was the first one illustrated by E.B. Lewis. He later illustrated many books for children and won important awards. Fire on the Mountain was very popular and has been in print for over twenty years.

Kurtz's first novel for middle schoolers was The Storyteller's Beads. This book shows what life was like in Ethiopia during a difficult time called the "red terror". Many Ethiopians had to flee to refugee camps in Sudan. From there, thousands of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) were flown to Israel in special airlifts. Jane Kurtz was inspired to write this story after reading about people who made this journey.

She has also written picture books about the beauty of Ethiopia. One is Water Hole Waiting, which she wrote with her brother, Christopher Kurtz. Another book they wrote together is Only a Pigeon. This is a true story about a shoeshine boy who became friends with her brother.

In 1997, Jane Kurtz went back to Ethiopia after 20 years. She visited schools and talked to students. She also traveled to Lalibela and Gondar. This trip later inspired her to write a historical novel for American Girl. The book, Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot, is set in 1846 when Gondar was no longer the capital of Ethiopia.

When she returned to North Dakota, her family had to leave their home because of the 1997 Red River flood. They stayed in Walhalla, North Dakota, for six weeks. During this time, Jane flew to Atlanta to speak about how important it is for children to write about their own lives.

After cleaning up her flooded house, she wrote the picture book River Friendly River Wild. The text for this book won the Golden Kite Award. Jane also used her flood memories for tornado scenes in her 2013 novel Anna Was Here. She often says this novel is about "life's big questions and a few puny answers." A reviewer in New York Times called it "sweetly funny" and a "moving-day classic."

Jane Kurtz has been invited to speak in many places. She has visited 40 states in the U.S. and countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. People often praise her talks for being funny and inspiring to young writers. She also emphasizes how reading can change lives. In 2001, she was invited to an event called "Laura Bush Celebrates America's Authors." This event honored children's book authors before U.S. President George W. Bush's inauguration.

In 2008, an editor from American Girl asked Jane Kurtz to write two books for Lanie, the American Girl Doll of the Year 2010. Jane was inspired by students in Indonesia who helped orangutans. She created a character named Dakota, Lanie's best friend, who works with orangutans in Indonesia. In 2011, Jane Kurtz went back to the school in Indonesia to show the students the book they had helped inspire. One student wrote that he wanted to help animals but felt he couldn't. He then realized that even catching krill (tiny sea creatures) could help animals. He wrote, "Even poor people can help animals."

Jane Kurtz wrote the books Lanie and Lanie's Real Adventures while living in Lawrence, Kansas. Her son and daughter-in-law were going to college there. She decided to create a character who helps save monarch butterflies. She learned about Monarch Watch, a group of students, teachers, and volunteers who study monarchs in Lawrence.

Jane Kurtz's Books

Awards and Recognition

Jane Kurtz has received several awards for her writing:

• 2001: Golden Kite Award for the text of River Friendly, River Wild.
• 2001: Best-of-the-Year Award from School Library Journal for Water Hole Waiting.
• 2005: Year's Best Books from The Washington Post for In the Small, Small Night.
• 2010: Book of the Year from American Girl for Lanie's Real Adventures.
• 2011: Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota.
• 2014: SEED Honor for helping to start Ethiopia Reads.
• 2015: Nominated for the 2015–2016 South Carolina Children's Book Awards for Anna Was Here.