From the time she was very young, Sharon Draper knew she wanted to be a teacher. "I was probably born to be a teacher," she says. "I taught my dolls, my dog, and the kids next door."1 Unlike many children, Draper was not mistaken about her calling. After earning her bachelor's degree in English from Pepperdine University, she declined the school's request to stay on as a teacher and graduate student, opting instead to move to Cincinnati, where she began a teaching career that would last for thirty years. Her work as a public high school teacher won her numerous accolades, though perhaps no year was more rewarding than 1997, when she was named both Ohio Teacher of the Year and U. S. Teacher of the Year. President Bill Clinton, who presented Draper with the national award, called her "a true blessing to the children she has taught." [ibid.] In her acceptance speech, Draper paid homage to her fellow teachers, saying, "I'm proud of my colleagues, 3 million of us, who strive every day in the classrooms across the country to make a difference in the lives of students." [ibid.]
Draper's big writing break came as the result of a dare. In 1991, one of her students gave her an entry form for Ebony Magazine's short story contest, declaring, "You think you so bad—why don't you write something! Enter this contest!"2 Her story "One Small Torch" won the magazine's $5,000 prize. In 1994, she published Tears of a Tiger, which received the American Library Association/Coretta Scott King Genesis Award. Forged by Fire (1998), The Battle of Jericho (2004), Copper Sun (2006), and November Blues (2007) also won the Coretta Scott King Award. Draper is dedicated to producing literature that resonates with the actual lived experience of young adults: "Abuse and death are topics that need to be discussed by young people," she says. "I talk about these things because, unfortunately, those are the realities of life for many teenagers today." [ibid.]
Draper retired from teaching in 2005 to write full time, but she continues to champion literacy and education through her lectures, media appearances, and service on the Board of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. She sees teaching and writing as inextricably linked: "I started writing as a result of my teaching, and now, my writing has become a teaching tool," she said in an interview with Teacher Librarian's Teri Lesesne. "I wrote for my students, for the kids I knew who didn't like to read, who weren't inspired by books or literature. Now the books are used in schools all over the country, teachers use them as learning tools for their classes, and when I speak to students at schools, all I really do is an extended version of what I've always done, which is teach." [ibid. 1, Encyclopedia of World Biography]
Sharon Draper was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952, and apart from the years she spent as an undergraduate at Pepperdine, she has remained a devoted resident of her home state. She credits her parents, who read to her every night, and her grade school teachers, who influenced and inspired her, with her ongoing love of literature and education.
