Sally Hobart Alexander facts for kids

Sally Hobart Alexander is an American author who writes books for kids. She is famous for sharing her experiences as a person who is blind in her stories.

Early Life and Learning

Sally Hobart was born in Owensboro, Kentucky. Her parents were Robert and Kate Hobart. She went to Hazleton High School and then to Bucknell University. Later, she earned a special degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.

Becoming a Writer

After college, Sally Alexander taught third-grade students in Southern California. During this time, a rare illness caused problems with her eyes. This led to her becoming completely blind.

She shared that she was sad to stop teaching when her eyesight began to fail. She then joined a great training program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This program was for adults who had recently become blind. For a year after that, she taught at the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind.

Sally Alexander started writing books for children. Her first book, Mom Can't See Me, came out in 1990. In this book, she wrote about a loving family learning to live with a parent who is blind. By 2008, she had published eight books. These include two memoirs, Taking Hold (1994) and On My Own (1997). She also wrote a book for young readers about Laura Bridgman, a famous deaf-blind pioneer.

Today, Alexander teaches writing and literature at Chatham University. She works in their program for students who want to write for children and teens. She won the 1995 Christopher Award for her book Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness.

About Her Life

Sally Hobart is married to Bob Alexander, who is an English professor. They have two children and live in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh. In recent years, she has also started to lose her hearing. She now wears hearing aids.

In 2010, she wrote, "Even though I face challenges from being deaf-blind, I believe I would still find joy in reading and writing books, even if I lost all my hearing."

Books by Sally Hobart Alexander

• Mom Can't See Me, a children's story based on her life (New York: Macmillan, 1990).
• Sarah's Surprise, a fiction story (New York: Macmillan, 1990).
• Mom's Best Friend, a children's story based on her life (New York: Macmillan, 1992).
• Maggie's Whopper, a fiction story (New York: Macmillan, 1992).
• Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness, a true story about her life (New York: Macmillan, 1994).
• On My Own: The Journey Continues, a true story about her life (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997).
• Do You Remember the Color Blue? And Other Questions Kids Ask about Blindness, a non-fiction book (New York: Viking, 2000).
• She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer, a true story co-written with Robert Alexander (New York: Clarion Books, 2008).