Ralph Fletcher

Ralph Fletcher (born March 17, 1953) is a writer of children's picture books, young-adult fiction, and poetry as well as books for both children and teachers on the art of writing.
Biography.
Ralph Fletcher grew up in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He is the oldest of nine children. Each of his parents were one of eight children. He got his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1975 and his M.F.A degree in writing from Columbia University in 1983. In college he studied in Tonga in the South Pacific and Sierra Leone, South Africa. After getting his masters degree, Ralph worked in New York City classrooms as part of the Teacher College writing project. Fletcher now lives in Lee, New Hampshire. He is married to JoAnn Portalupi, with her he has written several books for teachers. Together they have four sons.
Awards.
His young adult novel "Uncle Daddy" won a Christopher Medal in the Books for Young People, ages 10-12 category in 2002. "Fig Pudding", a young adult book by Fletcher, was recommended as one of the ten best books of 1995 by the American Library Association. Fletcher's poetry book "I Am Wings" was chosen by School Library Journal as one of their best books of 1994.