Mary Downing Hahn is an award-winning American author of young adult novels. Her first published book, The Sara Summer, was released in 1979, when she was forty-one years old. Since then she has written over twenty novels. Many of those novels take place in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, a state in which she grew up and in which she still lives.

Early life

Mary Downing Hahn grew up in College Park, Maryland

College Park, Maryland

College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...

. As a young girl she told stories through drawing pictures. When she was in elementary she loved reading and drawing, but hated writing, however, she liked to tell stories.
By junior high, she wanted to create more intricate stories, and that is when she started writing, along with illustrating and she wrote her first story called, Small Town Life, but never finished it; She continued writing in high school, inside a journal. In college, Mary Downing Hahn created poetry with the hopes of being published in The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

. Unfortunately, she lacked the confidence to read and write.

Professional life

She was a children's librarian before she decided to write and release her first book, The Sara Summer. After writing The Sara Summer, she started averaging one book a year. To date, she has released many renowned novels for children, including winning the Scott O'Dell award

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is an American award established in 1982 to encourage authors to focus on historical fiction. The award was created by Scott O’Dell, author of Island of the Blue Dolphins and 25 other children's books, in hopes of increasing young readers' interest in...

 for the book Stepping on the Cracks. She is a three time winner of the William Allen White Children's Book Award

William Allen White Children's Book Award

The William Allen White Children's Book Award is an annual book award chosen by Kansas students. It was established by Ruth Garver Gagliardo in 1952, in memory of William Allen White and is administered by Emporia State University. It was the first statewide readers' choice book award in the United...

. In 2010, she won the Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 for her book, Closed for the Season.

Selected bibliography (alphabetical)

• All the Lovely Bad Ones (2008)
• Anna All Year Round (1999)
• Anna on the Farm (2001)
• Appointment with a Stranger
• Following my own Footsteps (1997)
• As Ever, Gordy (1998)
• Closed for the Season (2009)
• Daphne's Book (1983)
• The Dead Man in Indian Creek (1990)
• December Stillness (1988)
• Deep and Dark and Dangerous
  Deep and Dark and Dangerous
  Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a 2007 mystery horror novel written by Mary Downing Hahn. This book is about a girl named Ali O'Dwyer that tries to find out who a mysterious person is on a picture she finds, but soon finds out she is someone she has met at her summer vacation.StoryThe suspense is on...
  
  (2007)
• The Doll in the Garden (1989)
• Following My Mom In The Attic Where She Killed Me (1996)
• Following the Mystery Man That Killed Me In A Dark Alley (1988)
• The Gentleman Outlaw and Me, Eli: A Story of the Old West (1996)
• The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall (2010)
• Hear the Wind Blow (2003)
• Janey and the Famous Author (2005)
• The Jellyfish Season (1985)
• The Old Willis Place
  The Old Willis Place
  The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story is a children's novel written by Mary Downing Hahn. It was first published in 2004 and is found in over 1400 libraries.-Plot:...
  
  (2004)
• Promises to the Dead (2000)
• The Sara Summer (1979)
• The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster (1991)
• Stepping on the Cracks (1991)
• Tallahassee Higgins (1987)
• Time For Andrew (1994)
• The Time of the Witch (1982)
• Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story (1986)
• The Wind Blows Backward (1993)
• Witch Catcher (2006)