Gail giles biography

  • Gail Giles (born September 24 in

    • Job Description: Goddess/Grouch: Depending on amount of chocolate consumed.
    Age, Height, Weight: Oh, absolutely, I’m going to tell you that.
    Birthday: September 24, a long time ago.
    Sign: NO TRESPASSING
    Family: Jim Giles—husband, best friend, love of my life. Josh Jakubik—son and hero. Hunter and Chase Jakubik—grandsons. Dawn Jakubik—terrific daughter in law.
    Where I used to live: Born in Galveston, Texas, raised in LaMarque, Texas, went to school in Nacogdoches, Texas, lived for years in Lake Jackson, Texas, taught high school in Angleton, Texas. Is anyone picking up a pattern here? After three fabulous in Chicago, Illinois, I moved to Fairbanks and then Anchorage, Alaska, and yes, it was COLD.(This is a picture of Jim "mowing" the grass.)
    Where I live now:As of August, 2004, I'm back in Texas, Yee Haw!
    Pets: Dogs: Great Pyrenees— Chicago and Labradoodle--Harper Lee
    Cat: Truman Capote
    Likes: Chocolate, good books, good movies, hot baths, crisp, clean sheets, big cities, rain on a tin roof, my friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jimmy Buffett and sleeping late.
    Dislikes: Mean people, cabbage, bad books, bad movies, really bright light, sweat or any activity that produces sweat, repetitive noises, waiting for anything, airports, getting up early, and people that ask when I’m going to write for adults.
    Hobbies: Watercolor, reading, sleeping, computer solitaire, television, and playing the guitar. (My husband and pets would rather I watercolor, read or sleep than play the guitar. And they never allow me to sing.)  I have just started playing the harp.
    Favorite Expression: “I mock you with my monkey pants.” (Said by Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
    Favorite Song: “Smelly Cat.” (Sung by Phoebe in Friends.)

    Gail Giles Biography

    Biographical and Critical Sources

    PERIODICALS

    Booklist, April 1, 1997, Susan DeRonne, review of Breath of the Dragon, p. 1334; March 1, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Shattering Glass, p. 1133; March 15, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, p. 1317; June 1, 2003, Brian Wilson, review of Shattering Glass (audiobook), p. 1812.

    Bookseller, January 16, 2004, Claudia Mody, "Teenage Reads," pp. 37-42.

    Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2002, review of Shattering Glass, p. 181; February 15, 2003, review of Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, p. 305.

    Kliatt, July, 2002, Paula Rohrlick, review of Shattering Glass, p. 10; May, 2003, Claire Rosser, review of Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, p. 8; September, 2003, Sarah Applegate, review of Shattering Glass, pp. 1617.

    Publishers Weekly, February 11, 2002, review of Shattering Glass, p. 188; January 13, 2003, review of Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, p. 61; October 13, 2003, review of Shattering Glass, p. 82.

    St. Petersburg Times, March 15, 2004, Holly Atkins, "Interview with Gail Giles," p. 4E.

    School Library Journal, June, 1997, Susan Hepler, review of Breath of the Dragon, p. 117; April, 2002, Vicki Reutter, review of Shattering Glass, pp. 148-149; May, 2003, Lynn Evarts, review of Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, p. 152; July, 2003, Jane P. Fenn, review of Shattering Glass (audiobook), p. 71.

    Teacher Librarian, February, 2004, Ruth Cox, "Tough Guys," pp. 10-11.

    Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2003, Bonnie Kunzel, "Shattered by Shattering Glass: A Teen Book Group Forsakes Fantasy for Realism," pp. 19-21.

    ONLINE

    Children's Literature Resources Web site, http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/ (March 5, 2004), interview with Giles.

    Gail Giles Home Page, http://www.galegiles.com/ (March 5, 2004).*

    Additional topics

    Brief BiographiesBiographies: E(mily) R. Frank (1967-) Biography - Personal to Martha Graham (1893–1991)

    Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. More books than SparkNotes.

    Study Guides on Works by Gail Giles

    Shattering GlassGail Giles

    Gail Giles' Shattering Glass was initially published by Roaring Book Press in 2001. The novel is set over the course of one school year and is told from the perspective of a high school senior named Young Stewart, who is a member of the "in crowd"...

  • Gail Giles is an American writer

    • Gail Giles

    American writer of young adult fiction

    Gail Giles (born September 24 in Galveston, Texas) is an American writer of young adult fiction. She aims to write books about social issues that connect with a teen audience in a realistic way. She has won several awards for her work, including an ALA Best of the Best book. In 2014, she co-authored No Returns, the first in a series, with Deb Vanasse.

    Biography

    Giles is a former high school teacher who grew up in Texas and now lives there with her husband, three dogs, and three cats. She has one son and two grandsons. She graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University. She studies English, speech, and drama.

    Career

    Her novel Shattering Glass, was an ALA Best of the Best Book, a Book Sense 76 selection, and a Booklist Top 10 Mystery for Youth selection. The novel is about a high school boy named Simon Glass who is helped to become one of the most popular kids in school by other students, only to end in a tragic twist of fate.

    Her second novel, Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, was an ALA Top 10 Quick pick (2003) and a Book Sense 76 selection. It is about a girl named Sunny whose older sister, Jazz, has recently died. She receives a letter in the mail supposedly from her sister. Following the letter, things get stranger and stranger. Dead Girls Don't Write Letters deals with profound physiological insight and provides the reader with much to ponder. Giles' third novel, Playing in Traffic (2003), is an epic story about a boy trying to help a gothic girl.

    Her fourth book, What Happened to Cass McBride? (2006), deals with teen problems. It's about crime, death, torture, and suicide.

    In September 2007, she published another teen novel, Right Behind You, about a boy who struggles with guilt after making a horrible mistake.

    Dark Song, a fast-paced psychological thriller about a girl who falls hard for the wrong boy, was released on September 7, 2010.

    No Returns, co-written