She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D.

She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, 'Taxi!' to make the neighbors wonder.

She loves to garden and bake bread, and even dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist.Īt various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. Lorraine’s story is a heartbreaking and ultimately redemptive story of one girl’s strength and resolve to save herself and her family against all odds.ĭonna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction. And Lorraine has one question: how can she help her family survive?Ī little known part of history, the Irish potato famine altered history forever and caused a great immigration in the later part of the 1800s. Two different cultures come together in a deserted Irish meadow. Then Lorraine meets Miss Susannah, the daughter of the wealthy English landowner who owns Lorraine’s family’s farm, and the girls form an unlikely friendship that they must keep a secret from everyone. But this year is different-the spuds are mushy and ruined. Lorraine and her brother are waiting for the time to pick the potato crop on their family farm leased from an English landowner. Through the eyes of twelve-year-old Lorraine this “moving personal story” ( Booklist, starred review) from the award-winning author of Hidden and Hush gives insight and understanding into a little known part of history-the Irish potato famine.

“A worthy introduction to an important slice of history.” - Kirkus Reviews “A timely reminder about conditions in our current world.” - The Horn Book “If ever there was a book primed to show American children why families from other countries are often desperate to reach our shores, this is it.” - Booklist (starred review)

Ugly by donna jo napoli