Joan Lowery Nixon

Photo © 2003 Gittings

“In every story I write I give a great deal of thought to the main character, because the story is his, or hers. The direction of the story is determined by the main character’s ambitions and reactions. The main character is the one to whom the readers will relate.”—Joan Lowery Nixon

Joan Lowery Nixon is the only four-time winner of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award and a two-time winner of the California Young Reader Medal.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Whether it’s engrossing historical dramas, chilling mysteries, suspense-filled page-turners, or adventure stories, kids, teachers, and librarians love the books of Joan Lowery Nixon.

Nixon is half Californian, half Texan. She has a degree in journalism and credentials in elementary education. Nixon has written over 130 books for children from preschool age through young adult—including science books, co-authored with her husband, geologist Hershell Nixon. Her books have garnered numerous awards and accolades, including the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile and the Texas Institute of Letters Award. Many of Nixon’s books have won state children’s choice awards. She is the only four-time winner of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. Nixon has four children and several grandchildren.

Nixon describes the pleasure she gets from writing mystery and suspense: “When I was young I discovered an evening radio program called I Love a Mystery. It was intriguing, suspenseful, and at times absolutely terrifying, and the title was correct. I did love a mystery—on radio, in films, and especially in books. Maybe I’m really a detective at heart because much later in my life, when I began to write books for young people, I discovered writing mysteries was even more fun than reading them.

“A mystery begins to develop in my mind when something sparks an idea and a question grows from it. What would it be like to move into a house in which a murder had taken place? How would I feel if my best friend were arrested for murder on circumstantial evidence? As a question develops into an answer, I give a great deal of thought to my main character. She is the most important part of the story, and I see it take shape through her eyes. Before I write a word of the story I know how I’ll begin it and how I’ll end it, making sure to put in honest clues and distracting red herrings—just to make the mystery all the more fun to solve. I love mysteries, and I want my readers to love them, too.”

In creating the acclaimed Orphan Train Adventures, Nixon explored a time and place in America’s recent past that is not widely covered in history lessons. She explains, “It was a part of history I hadn’t known: that beginning in 1854, over 100,000 homeless children were rescued from the streets of New York City and sent by train to new homes in the West. As I researched early journals, I found many letters—some hopeful, some sad—and reports which told of tears as brothers and sisters were separated or a child was not chosen. I wanted to bring history and fiction together in an exciting, adventurous time and place, to tell the stories of those who could have traveled west on the Orphan Train.”

Many of Nixon’s readers have written to her asking how to get published. Her novel The Making of a Writer, a part memoir, part how-to book, is her answer to them. From her first publication at age 10—a poem titled “Springtime”—to her graduation from Hollywood High during World War II, Nixon shares the incidents from her childhood that helped her to develop as a writer.


PRAISE

THE KIDNAPPING OF CHRISTINA LATTIMORE
“A fast-moving, entertaining mystery with an intelligent and spunky heroine.”—Booklist

MURDERED, MY SWEET
“Another solid Nixon mystery without too much violence and lots of suspense.”—Booklist


THE NAME OF THE GAME WAS MURDER
“Another successful page-turner. . . . Reluctant readers and mystery lovers alike will welcome a trip to this mansion.”—School Library Journal

SEARCH FOR THE SHADOWMAN
“Thrilling . . . a riveting tale of suspense set against a background of fascinating historical context brought up to date through e-mail and the Internet.”—School Library Journal

SPIRIT SEEKER
“Enriched with family troubles, guilty secrets, and a whiff of the supernatural, this page-turner will please the legions of Nixon fans.”—Kirkus Reviews

THE WEEKEND WAS MURDER!
“Masterfully constructed. . . . Ingeniously plotted, fast-paced and lighthearted, this mystery manages to blend an engrossing double murder brainteaser with the blossoming of a self-conscious teen into a self-assured young woman.”—Publishers Weekly

WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD
“Nixon’s reputation as the grande dame of mysteries for young readers remains solidly intact with this thriller . . . a topnotch choice.”—Starred, School Library Journal


THE ORPHAN TRAIN ADVENTURES

A FAMILY APART
“As close to perfect a book. . . . The plot is rational and well-paced; the characters are real and believable; the time setting is important in U.S. history; and the values all that anyone can ask for.”—VOYA

IN THE FACE OF DANGER
“This exciting and touching novel projects an aura of historical reality.”—School Library Journal

THE ORPHAN TRAIN CHILDREN SERIES

LUCY’S WISH
“There is suspense, surprise, and heartfelt emotion, and there is a useful historical note at the end.”—Booklist

Author Bookshelf
		A Candidate for Murder Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback A suspense novel set in the world of politics.  With her father running for governor of Texas, Cary  is determined to find out why she appears to be in  danger. "Nixon is back doing the kind of book  she does best... an inviting read." -- Booklist Read More
		Caught in the Act Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Read More
		A Dangerous Promise Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Read More
		The Dark and Deadly Pool Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Liz enjoys her summer pool job at the glamorous Ridley Hotel.  Until the night, a dark and lonely night, a ghasty shadow surges up from the pool.  A face -- eyes wide, mouth gaping -- stares at Liz.  A hand clutches at her sneaker.  Then it, whatever it is, is gone. But danger isn't.  Strange things are... Read More
		A Family Apart Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Read More
		Ghost Town Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook Stagecoach robberies. Shoot-outs. Striking it rich. Throughout the Wild West small towns were formed, thriving with men and women from the East and gold from the mines. Notorious outlaws, desperadoes, and gunslingers rustled up trouble in town after town. When the gold disappeared, the outlaws, as well as the local folks... Read More
		The Ghosts of Now Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback It's Friday night and Angie Dupree is alone in the house when the phone rings. "Your brother is dead," whispers a voice. At the hospital, Angie finds Jeremy in a coma from which he may never recover. Angie is on her own trying to piece together the events of that horrifying night... Read More
		The Haunting Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Fifteen-year-old Lia comes from a long line of courageous women, dating back to a Civil War survivor who single-handedly saved her Louisiana plantation house, Graymoss, from destruction. But Graymoss is haunted by a terrible evil. With clues from a diary and Favorite Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Lia, who doesn't feel as... Read More
		The Haunting Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook Fifteen-year-old Lia comes from a long line of courageous women, dating back to a Civil War survivor who single-handedly saved her Louisiana plantation house, Graymoss, from destruction. But Graymoss is haunted by a terrible evil. With clues from a diary and Favorite Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Lia, who doesn't feel as... Read More
		In The Face of Danger Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Read More
		Land of Hope Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Russian immigrant Rebekah Levinsky hopes desperately that her dream will come true in America. On the difficult ocean journey to the "land of opportunity" she meets two other girls--Kristin Swensen from Sweden and Rose Carney from Ireland. The three quickly become friends as they share their visions of the future and... Read More
		Laugh Till You Cry Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Cody doesn’t like Texas. He and his mom were only supposed to spend the summer there, helping out his grandmother. But Cody’s grandmother is sick and needs them to stay. Now he’s the new kid at the local middle school and all his friends are back in California. You’d think... Read More
		Laugh Till You Cry Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Hardcover Library Binding THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Cody doesn’t like Texas. He and his mom were only supposed to spend the summer there, helping out his grandmother. But Cody’s grandmother is sick and needs them to stay. Now he’s the new kid at the local middle school and all his friends are back in California. You’d think... Read More
		Murdered, My Sweet Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook Jenny Jakes and her mother, a famous mystery writer, travel to San Antonio to see their cousin, Arnold Harmony, who's made his fortune in the chocolate business. Harmony, an eccentric millionaire, wants his will read publicly before he dies; since everyone wants a piece of the pie, this announcement causes quite... Read More
		The Name of the Game Was Murder Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Novelist Augustus Trevor has written a manuscript that reveals the darkest secrets of his guests. Whoever can solve Trevor's clues can have his story removed from the book. But when Trevor is bludgeoned to death, the survivors (along with the reader) are challenged to find both the manuscript and the murderer... Read More
		Nightmare Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Trade Paperback Emily has never fit in her overachieving family. Instead of getting straight As, she sits in the back row and hides behind her hair. As a result, her parents have enrolled her at Camp Excel—an academic camp for underachievers—for the summer. Emily doesn’t want to go, and not just because she... Read More
		Nightmare Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook Emily has never fit in her overachieving family. Instead of getting straight As, she sits in the back row and hides behind her hair. As a result, her parents have enrolled her at Camp Excel—an academic camp for underachievers—for the summer. Emily doesn’t want to go, and not just because she... Read More
		The Other Side of Dark Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Stacy wakes up in a room that's not hers, in a  body she doesn't recognize, to discover she's been  in a coma for four years. Her mother is  dead--murdered--and Stacy, recovering from a gunshot wound, is  the only eyewitness to her mother's  murder. She can recall only a shadowy face, so far. But  the killer is not about... Read More
		The Other Side of Dark Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook Stacy wakes up in a room that's not hers, in a  body she doesn't recognize, to discover she's been  in a coma for four years. Her mother is  dead--murdered--and Stacy, recovering from a gunshot wound, is  the only eyewitness to her mother's  murder. She can recall only a shadowy face, so far. But  the killer is not about... Read More
		A Place to Belong Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Read More
		Playing for Keeps Written by Joan Lowery Nixon eBook Rosie can’t believe her good luck. Her grandmother, Glory, needs a last-minute roommate for a cruise to the Caribbean. Glory doesn’t really need a companion–she’s eager for Rosie to meet her friend’s grandson, Neil, a brainy guy full of facts about baseball. Once Rosie is aboard the ship, though, someone else... Read More
		Search for the Shadowman Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Trade Paperback Twelve-year-old Andy Bonner isn't thrilled with his teacher's assignment to explore family history. When he starts asking questions about his ancestors, he is startled to discover a black sheep in the family tree. No one wants to reveal what happened in his family's past. But Andy is determined to break the... Read More
		Secret, Silent Screams Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Is Barry's death the latest tragedy in a string of suicides at Farrington Park High School? Or is it murder? Marti is sure her friend Barry didn't take his own life, but no one will believe her except Police Officer Prescott. But opening an investigation takes time, and Marti is determined... Read More
		Shadowmaker Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Read More
		Spirit Seeker Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Paperback Holly Campbell's life has suddenly become a newspaper-headline nightmare. Her friend Cody's parents have just been found murdered, and Cody is the prime suspect. Even Holly's father, the police detective in charge of the investigation, thinks Cody is guilty. Holly knows she must help her friend. Will a mysterious psychic help... Read More