Cat Bauer

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Cat Bauer
BornCatherine Bauer
(1955-07-27) July 27, 1955 (age 68)
Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Alma materPompton Lakes High School
National Shakespeare Conservatory
Website
www.catbauer.com

Catherine "Cat" Bauer (born July 27, 1955, in Greenville, South Carolina) is the award-winning author of contemporary novels featuring the young protagonist, Harley Columba, and is known for her unique and honest voice. Publishers Weekly said, "Bauer creates a witty and resilient narrator in...Harley Columba... Readers will be rooting for this sympathetic heroine." In the Thomson Gale biography, the authors noted that: "Readers and reviewers often found the strength of Bauer's novel in the authentic voice of its heroine, Harley. Patricia Morrow, for example, in Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), remarked that 'Harley's voice is true to the experience of many young people,' and that 'Although the outcomes are not unexpected, they do not follow any formulas.'"[1]

Life

Bauer is the oldest of five children. She was born on an

Kearney, New Jersey in the same three-family house as her paternal grandparents, and her summers at the Bauer family property [1] Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine on Bodin Lake [2] Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine in Upstate New York. Her grandfather was the foreman of Kearfott
, where her father was also an engineer.

When she was nearly five years old, her grandparents relocated to

theater
.

Bauer graduated with honors from Pompton Lakes High School in 1973.[2]

After a brief marriage to her high school sweetheart, she moved to the

West Village in New York City, and studied acting with Stella Adler and the National Shakespeare Conservatory
.

Acting career

She later moved to

Los Feliz
.

Writing career

In July, 1993,

young adult
literature.

Bauer later changed the title of her first novel to Harley, Like a Person, which was originally published in 2000 by Winslow Press, a boutique publisher that filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy
in 2002.

John Lennon's life and work were major influences on Bauer, and her novels are peppered with references to the former Beatle. For example, Harley Columba was born on the anniversary of John Lennon's death, December 8, while her parents were attending a memorial concert in his honor.

In 2004, Holly Bolstad of

Target Stores, by writing to Cat Bauer about how Harley, Like a Person had affected her life. To enter, readers write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic, explaining how that author's work changed the student's way of thinking about the world or themselves.[7]

In April 1998, Bauer moved to

Venice, Italy, where she lives today on the Grand Canal
. She is presently divorced.

Bauer was also a regular contributor to International Herald Tribune's Italian supplement, Italy Daily, writing about the art, culture and architecture of Venice. Her popular blog, Venetian Cat - Venice Blog has been featured in the Financial Times Arts & Weekend Magazine.[8]

On May 27, 2004, the

Honorable Prudence Carter Beatty signed an Order reverting all rights to Harley, Like a Person to Bauer. That book was republished in a slightly different form in 2007 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House
, Inc., New York, together with a companion novel entitled, Harley's Ninth, which takes place all on one day, October 9, John Lennon's birthday.

Awards and recognition for Harley, Like a Person

  • Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novel
  • American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults [4]
  • Two-time Winner American Library Association YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults [5]
  • American Library Association YALSA Quick Pick [6]
  • New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
  • Bookreporter Top Ten Teen First Novel
  • Book of the Year - First Place YA Fiction - ForeWord Magazine [7]
  • Oregon Young Adult Network Book Rave [8] Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  • BookSense
    76 Pick
  • teenreads.com Top 10 Teen Book [9]
  • Teen People
    Book Club Selection
  • CosmoGirl Book Club Selection
  • Selected Adoption-Related Book No. American Council on Adoptable Children Awareness Guide
  • Winner -
    SCBWI
    Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award

Selected works

Novels

Harley, Like a Person

ISBN 978-0-375-83735-7
Harley's Ninth
ISBN 978-0-375-83736-4

Collections

Sixteen - Stories About that Sweet and Bitter Birthday, edited by Megan McCafferty
Lines in the Sand, New Writing on War and Peace
Time Out Venice: Verona, Treviso and the Veneto Time Out Guides

References

  1. ^ Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2000, Patricia Morrow, review of Harley, like a Person, p. 260
  2. ^ Barry, Jan. "Author Revisits Scene Of Novel -- Tells Students Dreams Can Come True", The Record, December 12, 2000. Accessed August 14, 2007. "Cathy Bauer couldn't wait to graduate from Pompton Lakes High and get out into the world."
  3. ^ Koehler, Robert. "Stage Beat 'Peacocks' at the Deja Vu / 'Summer Storm' at the Mise En Scene / 'Jack and Beanstalk' at Celtic Arts Center / 'Scrambled Eggs' at Al's Bar", "Los Angeles Times", January 8, 1988.
  4. ^ "James Quinn Biography ((?)-)". www.filmreference.com.
  5. ^ "Sue Alexander Award Recipients". Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  6. ^ "The Center for the Book - Read.gov - Library of Congress". www.loc.gov.
  7. ^ "The Center for the Book - Read.gov - Library of Congress". www.loc.gov.
  8. ^ "That was then ... this is now: Venice". Financial Times. 2008-07-26. Archived from the original on 2015-05-07.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cat_Bauer&oldid=1218140209"