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Charles Ferry

Born: 1927 in Chicago, Illinois
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Ferry was born in Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois.

Biography: Ferry was a radio and newspaper journalist for many years. He started his career as a children's book writer when he was in his forties. His earlier books focused on the lives of young people during the period of his own adolescence in the 40s. A change in direction came in the 90s with the publication of ''Binge'', a powerful story about how alcohol destroys young lives. The book received many awards and was optioned for film by Walt Disney Educational productions. Ferry was quoted saying, 'I tell stories of young people coming of age. . . . My books come from deep inside of me, and they are slow to develop.' After more than two decades as a published author, Ferry continues to live modestly, researching, lecturing, and writing from his home in Rochester Hills, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.


Awards:
  • Best Children's Book, Friends of American Writers, Best Books of the Year selection, School Library Journal, and Best Books for Young Adults, American Library Association (ALA), all 1983, all for ''Raspberry One''. Best Book for Young Adults, ALA, 1993, B

Primary Audience(s): Children; Young adult readers

Charles Ferry on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=charles+ferry


Selected Titles

A fresh start /
ISBN: 1882792181 OCLC: 34798965

Proctor Pub., Ann Arbor, Mich. : 1996.

Story of four high-school seniors struggling to recover from alcoholism using Ferry's Eight Steps program (also called Alcoholics for Alcoholics).

Binge II :
ISBN: 096327998X OCLC: 43304442

Daisy Hill Press, Rochester, Mich. : ©1999.

Contains the complete text of Charles Ferry's original book, Binge, and a new section introducing Alcoholics for Alcoholics (AFA) and The Eight Steps to Sobriety and a Better You. The first book is a gripping tale of a young man's journey toward self-destruction via alcohol abuse. The second book additionally discloses a concept that can not only help persons recover from such tragedies but can prevent them from happening in the first place.

Love
ISBN: 0963279947 OCLC: 45689326

Daisy Hill Press, Rochester, Mich. : ©2000.

  O Zebron Falls! /
ISBN: 1882792041 OCLC: 32895080

Proctor Publications, Ann Arbor, Mich. : 1994.

An unresolved conflict with her father, imminent high school graduation, and World War II complicate a young girl's struggle to shape her life.

One more time /
ISBN: 0395366925 OCLC: 11186618

Houghton Mifflin, Boston : 1985.

Skeets Sinclair, the young tenor sax in Gene Markham's Orchestra, finds his life and the future of the band changing fast as they tour the United States during World War II.

Raspberry One /
ISBN: 0395340691 OCLC: 9155011

Houghton Mifflin, Boston : 1983.

Nick and Hildy, two young aircrewmen flying bombing support against Japan's kamikaze offensive in the Pacific, are devastated but ultimately strengthened by their war experience.

Up in Sister Bay /
ISBN: 0395214092 OCLC: 1366223

Houghton Mifflin, Boston : 1975.

Relates the dreams, frustrations, and challenges of three teenage friends growing up in rural Wisconsin during the 1930's.

 

 

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