Mavis Jukes

Photo © 2003 Nick Knueppel

“Writing is like dreaming; it allows your unconscious to reveal itself. It’s like looking in the mirror. Write from your own experience. You may feel that your life is nothing special, but remember this: only one of you will ever walk the Earth—ever—and how you perceive the world is unique and important. Find your voice; it’s in your heart. Tell the truth.”—Mavis Jukes

Mavis Jukes’s Like Jake and Me is a Newbery Honor Book.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Mavis Jukes was born in Nyack, New York, and grew up in New York City; Princeton, New Jersey; and Berkeley, California. She attended the University of Colorado, where she studied art; the University of California, where she studied education; and Golden Gate University, where she studied law. She is a member of the California Bar Association and has volunteered as a juvenile defense attorney.

Jukes was an elementary school teacher and an art specialist in the late 1960s and early 1970s and recently returned to public education. She writes books for children and young adults and teaches leadership, writing, drawing, and human interactions. She lives in the country in Northern California with her husband, artist Robert Hudson, and two teenage daughters. She has written many books for children, including Expecting the Unexpected, It’s a Girl Thing, Blackberries in the Dark, I’ll See You in My Dreams, It’s a Guy Thing, and Like Jake and Me, for which she won a Newbery Honor.


PRAISE


EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED

“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret meets the ’90s. Twelve-year-old River is learning a lot in her human interactions class. . . . Writing in a breezy Paula Danziger-like style, Jukes leads readers on a lively chase.”—Booklist

“Jukes treats sensitive subjects in an innovative way. . . Family dynamics at the end of the story are poignant and perceptive while still humorously handled. Jukes is terrific at capturing adolescent concerns and really shines in portraying characters and relationships.”—School Library Journal

“The book is occasionally hilarious, thick with teenspeak and one-liners about everything from PMS to ‘Wedgie Hell!’”—Kirkus Reviews

“Young readers will be surprised by the concluding twist and will be entertained by the middle-school slang-code dialogue.”—The Bulletin

“Full of broad humor and not-so-subtle ironies. . . . The characterizations . . . are fresh and vivid. [Jukes is] well attuned to pre-adolescent concerns and attitudes about puberty.”—Publishers Weekly

Author Bookshelf
		Be Healthy! It's a Girl Thing: Food, Fitness, and Feeling Great Written by Mavis Jukes and Lilian Wai-Yin Cheung Illustrated by Debra Ziss Hardcover Library Binding Mavis Jukes is here to help girls learn how to be healthy so they can stay healthy. Be Healthy! targets what girls need to know in order to achieve an active lifestyle and how to avoid the pitfalls of body image issues. Readers will find basic nutritional information; ideas for safe... Read More
		Be Healthy! It's a Girl Thing: Food, Fitness, and Feeling Great Written by Mavis Jukes and Lilian Wai-Yin Cheung eBook Mavis Jukes is here to help girls learn how to be healthy so they can stay healthy. Be Healthy! targets what girls need to know in order to achieve an active lifestyle and how to avoid the pitfalls of body image issues. Readers will find basic nutritional information; ideas for safe... Read More
		Be Healthy! It's a Girl Thing: Food, Fitness, and Feeling Great Written by Mavis Jukes and Lilian Wai-Yin Cheung Illustrated by Debra Ziss Trade Paperback Mavis Jukes is here to help girls learn how to be healthy so they can stay healthy. Be Healthy! targets what girls need to know in order to achieve an active lifestyle and how to avoid the pitfalls of body image issues. Readers will find basic nutritional information; ideas for safe... Read More
		Blackberries in the Dark Written by Mavis Jukes eBook "Austin's visit to his grandmother's is the first since Grandpa died. Austin notices Grandpa's things but feels the emptiness of his absence. This spare story vividly captures the emotions of painful times and shows how they ease with sharing and remembering. Boy and grandfather were close, but boy and grandmother seem... Read More
		Blackberries in the Dark Written by Mavis Jukes Trade Paperback "Austin's visit to his grandmother's is the first since Grandpa died. Austin notices Grandpa's things but feels the emptiness of his absence. This spare story vividly captures the emotions of painful times and shows how they ease with sharing and remembering. Boy and grandfather were close, but boy and grandmother seem... Read More
		Growing Up: It's a Girl Thing Written by Mavis Jukes Trade Paperback Read More
		The Guy Book Written by Mavis Jukes Trade Paperback Mavis Jukes is the queen of girl talk, but this time she’s set her sights on the guys. Told in the author’s usual straightforward, funny, favorite-aunt style, The Guy Book delivers sound information and useful advice for boys preparing to go through, or in the midst of, puberty. Boys will find... Read More
		It's a Girl Thing: How to Stay Healthy, Safe and in Charge Written by Mavis Jukes Trade Paperback The highly acclaimed girls' guide to adolescence by a Newbery Honor-winning author is now available in a rack-sized paperback edition. Reviewers were unanimous in their praise for this useful and important book. Read More
		Like Jake and Me Written by Mavis Jukes Trade Paperback In this Newbery Honor—winning story from 1984, a new family builds a relationship as a stepfather and stepson celebrate their differences and take heart in their similarities. Read More