Sharon M. Draper is an African-American author who has won multiple awards for her books, including the Coretta Scott King Award

Coretta Scott King Award

The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...

 (twice) for Forged by Fire (1998) and Copper Sun (2007).

A graduate of Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...

, Draper took up teaching until, in 1991, a student walked into her classroom with an Ebony Magazine ad and asked her to write a short story for that magazine. She accepted, and soon won $5,000 for "One Small Torch." This gave her the idea to write novels. After 24 tries, Tears of a Tiger was finally published in 1994, to instant success. She currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 with her husband and four children.
She's best known for her novel, "Darkness Before Dawn," as well as "The Battle Of Jericho."

Selected works

• Tears of a Tigers (Simon and Schuster, 1995)

• Forged by Fire
  Forged by Fire (novel)
  Forged by Fire is a realistic fiction novel written by Sharon M. Draper. The novel was first published in 1997 and is the second book in the Hazelwood High Trilogy...
  
  (Simon and Schuster, 1997)

• Darkness Before Dawn
  Darkness Before Dawn
  Darkness Before Dawn is a realistic young adult novel by author Sharon M. Draper. The novel is the final installment in the Hazelwood High trilogy. It was first published in 2001.-Plot summary:...
  
  (Simon and Schuster, 2001)

• Romiette and Julio
  Romiette and Julio
  Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper is an updated version of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Many of the characters in Draper's novel closely parallel those in Shakespeare's play...
  
  (Simon and Schuster, 1999)

• Double Dutch
  Double Dutch (Sharon Draper novel)
  Double Dutch is a 2002 young adult novel by Sharon M. Draper. It focuses on two teenagers and their very different struggles, which eventually collide and threaten their friendship.-Plot:Delia is an eighth grader in Cincinnati, Ohio...
  
  (Simon and Schuster, 2002)

• The Battle of Jericho (Simon and Schuster, 2003)

• Copper Sun (Simon and Schuster, 2006)

• November Blues (Simon and Schuster, 2007)

• Fire from the Rock (Dutton , 2006)

• We Beat the Street
  We Beat the Street
  We Beat the Street is an autobiography aimed at young adults written by The Three Doctors and Sharon Draper. For more information see The Three Doctors....
  
  (Dutton, 2005)

• Teaching from the Heart (Heinemann, 1999)

• Not Quite Burned Out But Crispy Around the Edges (Heinemann, 2001)

• Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs: The Buried Bones Mystery (Simon and Schuster, 2006)

• Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs: Lost in the Tunnel of Time (Simon and Schuster, 2006)

• Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs: Shadows of Caesar's Creek (Simon and Schuster, 2006)

• Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs: The Space Mission Adventure (Simon and Schuster, 2006)

• Teaching from the Heart (Heinemann, 1999)

• Not Quite Burned Out, But Crispy around the Edges (Heinemann, 2001)

• Sassy: Little Sister Is NOT My Name!

• Just Another Hero (Simon and Schuster, 2009)

• Out of My Mind (Atheneum Books, 2010)

External links

• http://www.orrt.org/draper/
• http://www.sharondraper.com