Janet McDonald

Janet McDonald
Born	August 10, 1953 Brooklyn, United States
Died	April 11, 2007 (aged 53) Paris, France
Occupation	Attorney, Author
Genre	Young adult fiction, Memoir

Janet McDonald (August 10, 1953 – April 11, 2007)^[1] was an American writer of young adult novels as well as the author of Project Girl, a memoir about her early life in the Brooklyn projects and struggle to achieve an Ivy League education. Her best known children's book is Spellbound, which tells the story of a teenaged mother who wins a spelling competition and a college scholarship. The book was named as the American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults in 2002.^[2]

In addition to books, McDonald also wrote articles for publications such as Slate, including one in which she paid psychic Sylvia Browne $700 for a telephone reading.^[3] McDonald was a member of Mensa, the high IQ society.^[4][5]

After graduating from Vassar (1977), Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (1984), and New York University Law School (1986),^[6] McDonald practiced law in New York City (1986-1989) and Seattle (1989-1991).^[7] She took a position as an intern at a Paris law firm (1991-1993) before moving to Olympia, Washington to work in the Attorney General's office and teach French language classes at Evergreen State College.^[8] McDonald settled in Paris in 1995 to work first as an international attorney and then as a writer, until she died of cancer in 2007.^[9]

Bibliography

Books

• — (1999). Project Girl. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-23757-3. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2003). Spellbound. New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Puffin Books. ISBN 0-14-250193-X. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2003). Twists and Turns. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-40006-7. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2004). Brother Hood. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-30995-7. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2006). Chill Wind. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). ISBN 0-374-41183-2. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2006). Harlem Hustle. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). ISBN 0-374-37184-9. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2007). Off-Color. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). ISBN 0-374-37196-2. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
• — (2004). Skin Deep (Anthology) "Zebra Girl". Puffin Books. ISBN 978-0141315058. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
• — (2011). Paris Was Ours (Anthology) "Just Another American". Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. ISBN 978-1-56512-953-5. Retrieved 12 July 2014.

Articles

• McDonald, Janet (Nov–Dec 2005). "Up the Down Staircase: Where Snoop and Shakespeare Meet". Horn Book Magazine 81 (6): 747–750. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
• McDonald, Janet (Fall 2003). "X-Patriate". Literary Review 47 (1): 58–62.
• McDonald, Janet (Summer 2002). "Double Life". Literary Review 45 (4): 679–685.
• McDonald, Janet (Jan 1999). "Educating Janet". Teacher Magazine 10 (4): 46–52.
• McDonald, Janet (15 Feb 2002). "Booklist Interview". Booklist 98 (12): 1026.
• McDonald, Janet (May 1994). "A Sister in Paris". Essence 25 (1): 54.
• McDonald, Janet (8 Jan 2003). "Crystal bawl". Slate. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
• McDonald, Janet (24 Aug 1998). "Black like (white) me". Slate. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
• McDonald, Janet (4 Feb 1999). "A dime bag for the schoolgirl". Slate. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
• McDonald, Janet (16 Jan 2001). "Project Girls". The Village Voice. Retrieved 25 June 2014.

Quotes

• "Freedom is ... not about nothing left to lose, it's about nothing left to be; you don't have to be anything."^[10]
• "Paris is where I became possible. It's where I became free."^[11]

References

1. Ross-Stroud, Catherine (2009). Janet McDonald: The Original Project Girl. Scarecrow Press. p. 1.
2. "2002 Best Books for Young Adults". American Library Association. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
3. "Articles by Janet McDonald". Slate. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
4. Powers, Retha (2007). "Janet McDonald 1953-2007: make some noise for the Project Girl". Black Issues Book Review.
5. Project Girl, page 183, 1st ed.
6. http://biography.jrank.org/pages/128/McDonald-Janet-1953.html
7. Ross-Stroud, Catherine (2009). Janet McDonald: The Original Project Girl. Scarecrow Press. pp. xi–xii.
8. Ross-Stroud, Catherine (2009). Janet McDonald: The Original Project Girl. Scarecrow Press. pp. xii.
9. Ross-Stroud, Catherine (2009). Janet McDonald: The Original Project Girl. Scarecrow Press. pp. xii–xiii.
10. Americans in Paris, a 2000 episode of This American Life, featuring McDonald
11. Powers, Retha (2007). "Janet McDonald 1953-2007: make some noise for the Project Girl". Black Issues Book Review. Retrieved 25 June 2014.

Further reading

• Catherine Ross-Stroud. "Urban Hip-Hop Fiction: Janet McDonald." Encyclopedia of Hip-Hop Literature, Ed. Tarshia Stanley. Greenwood Press, 2008.

External links

• Slate Various articles by McDonald, 1998-2003
• This American Life "Americans in Paris", 2000 (extended radio interview with McDonald, beginning at 41.05)
• Entrée to Black Paris "Remembering Janet McDonald", 2011
• The Literary Explorer "The Wind Blew It Away" by Thomas E. Kennedy, 2001
• The ALAN Review "A Talk with Janet McDonald" by Catherine Ross-Stroud, Fall 2009
• HipMama "Twists and Turns" by Jennifer Williams, 2003
• C-Span Book Discussion Janet McDonald discusses Project Girl, 1999
• L.A. Times Book Review "Caught in Life's Harsh Extremes" by Susie Linfield, 1999
• Spirit of Black Paris "Janet's Own Rhythm" by Julia Browne, 2007
• Reading Eagle "From Projects to Paris" Associated Press, 1999
• The Birmingham Post (England) "Letter from Paris", 1999
• Forever Missed Memorial Page by Janet McDonald's Family
• Newsday "Talking With Janet McDonald / I Will Survive" by Sheryl McCarthy, 2000
• Go Brooklyn "Tales From the Hood" by Lisa J. Curtis, 2004
• Serving House Journal "You Don’t Remember Me, But I Remember You - For Janet McDonald" by Thomas E. Kennedy, 2011