Jeannette Eyerly was a writer of Young-adult fiction for girls and a columnist

Columnist

A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....

. She was a pioneer in dealing with controversial topics in novels for young people. Among the themes that appeared in her books were teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...

, alcohol abuse

Alcohol abuse

Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...

, and drug use

Recreational drug use

Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...

. She penned eighteen novels, starting with More Than a Summer Love in 1962, though she had published many short stories before that. Her 1977 novel, He's My Baby, Now was the basis for an ABC television movie. She also wrote two books of verse.

Born Jeannette Hyde in Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

, she married Frank Eyerly in 1932. Eyerly earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

in 1930. Her papers are archived at the University of Iowa.

Awards

• Iowa Author Award from the Public Library of Des Moines Foundation, 2002.

• Iowa Women's Hall of Fame, 2006.