15 Curious Margaret Peterson Haddix Facts That You Should Know!

Most of us cherish the times when we can spend our holidays reading books.

One of the most memorable children's authors has to be Margaret Peterson Haddix for the current generation. She grew up on a farm and always had the thirst to tell beautiful stories.

This led to her penning down several brilliant series' enjoyed by children and teenagers all around the world. Her father was the first inspiration for the journey of writing stories and discovering worlds that other children could enjoy.

As an American writer, she is known far and wide because of her books. Currently, she is also working on more young adult and middle-grade books. So, we thought it would be great to introduce her readers to some fun facts about her journey in creative writing.

Therefore, keep reading if you have always wanted to know more fun facts about Margaret Peterson Haddix. If you enjoyed this article, why not read about Edward Snowden and Ralph Bunche facts here at Kidadl?

Margaret Peterson Haddix: Life Events

Sometimes, we forget to learn about their lives when it comes to writers. Margaret Peterson Haddix was born in Washington Court House, Ohio, the United States, on April 9, 1964, and she is still alive.

Along with Washington Court House in Ohio, Margaret Peterson Haddix also grew up in Sabina, Ohio. Her father was a farmer, so a considerable amount of time was spent on the farms. Along with that, she says that most family members were voracious readers, so we can understand where her idea to create books came from.

Growing up, some of her favorite books included E.L. Konigsburg's books, 'Anne of Green Gables,' 'Harriet the Spy,' 'Little Women,' 'Anne Frank,' 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' and 'The Little Princess.' As a child, she participated in the school choir.

She went to the Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, and graduated with a degree in journalism, creative writing, and history.

While studying at Miami University, Margaret worked at the 4-H camp as an assistant cook. During her time at Miami University, other jobs included being a part of the school newspaper.

Moreover, her studying journalism at Miami University let her to summer internships in Urbana, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Indianapolis, Indiana. Right after she graduated from Miami University, her first job was as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

But, soon, she moved to Indianapolis to pursue her career as a newspaper reporter.

She says that her reason to choose the particular subjects at Miami University was that she liked reading a lot, especially her love for reading their local newspaper or on topics like the Great Depression. During her college days, she even spent a semester studying in Luxembourg.

Margaret Peterson Haddix notes that her inspiration for writing fiction came from her job as a newspaper reporter.

The job led her to meet many people who used to answer her questions, and she used to get a lot of stories. Even though she kept writing facts in her news reports, the plot points and stories became a driving force to pursue her own writing.

First, she used to write the stories after coming back from work, but she soon realized that fiction might be the greater purpose of her life.

While in this phase, Margaret Peterson Haddix married her college sweetheart, Doug. At that time, he used to work as a newspaper editor for a newspaper in Danville, Illinois.

It became a complicated decision for Margaret Peterson Haddix.

She didn't want to work under her husband, the newspaper editor, as a newspaper reporter, so she chose to leave the job to concentrate on fiction. She also decided to take up a part-time community college instructor job while spending a bit of time as a freelance writer, and she mainly did business writing.

While juggling her time as a freelance writer and a community college instructor, she wrote powerful stories like 'Running Out of Time' (1995), 'Don't You Dare Read This' (1996), and 'Mrs. Dunphrey'.

This was also when they decided to expand their family and have children. The couple had two children, Meredith and Connor.

Her second child was born soon, as Meredith was just one and a half years old. Margaret Peterson Haddix states that being a fiction writer was never that easy, as, at times, she could only write when her two children were taking a nap.

There have been numerous changes in their lives throughout these years. The family moved from Illinois to Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, and then Columbus, Ohio, where she resides now with her husband.

She has managed to write more than 40 books for children and teenagers in all these years. Margaret Peterson Haddix has also written the 10th volume in 'The 39 Clues' series, 'Into the Gauntlet,' published in 2010.

Her books have entered the New York Times Best Seller lists countless times and featured in the American Library Association (ALA) annual book lists. She even received the Best Book for Young Adults Award from the American Library Association.

Margaret Peterson Haddix has also been featured in the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and won the International Reading Association Children's Book Award. Currently, she likes to spend her time either reading or writing books.

What is Margaret Peterson Haddix famous for?

Margaret Peterson Haddix is famous for penning down more than 40 books for children and adults. She has received the Best Book for Young Adults Award from ALA and is best known for her two children's series, 'The Shadow Children' series, and 'The Missing' series.'

If you are an avid reader, you are bound to know about Margaret Peterson Haddix. She started publishing her fiction in the late '90s and quickly got popular in the 2000s.

Her most popular series has to be the 'Shadow Children' books, which currently have seven titles. Another popular long line of books has to be the 'Missing series,' having eight books with two e-book shorts.

Currently, the books 'Among The Hidden,' 'Into The Gauntlet' (the 10th volume of 'The 39 Clues' series), 'Found,' and 'Just Ella' are the most popular books. However, her first book, 'Running Out Of Time,' did contribute to quite a bit of popularity.

Famous Books Of Margaret Peterson Haddix

When it comes to any author, it's a must to know about their bibliography. Among all the books are written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, the two children's series, the 'Shadow Children' and the 'Missing' series, have garnered the most attention.

In the 'Shadow Children' books written by this American writer, there are seven titles, 'Among The Hidden,' 'Among The Impostors,' 'Among The Betrayed,' 'Among The Barons,' 'Among The Brave,' 'Among The Enemy,' and 'Among The Free.' The first part of the 'Shadow Children' series was published in 1998, while the last one came out in 2006.

This series is mainly for young adults.

The second most popular series from this American writer is the 'Missing' series that contains the books, 'Found', 'Sent', 'Sabotaged', 'Torn', 'Caught'', 'Risked', 'Revealed', 'Redeemed', 'Sought' (e-book), and 'Rescued' (e-book).

The 'Missing' series began in 2005, and the last book was published in 2015. Apart from these books, Margaret Peterson Haddix has also written other series' like 'The Palace Chronicles,' 'Children Of Exile' series, and 'Under The Skin' series.

Apart from the diverse series, the creative writing journey of Margaret Peterson Haddix has included several standalone books written mainly for young adults and middle grades. Notable books include 'The Summer Of Broken Dreams,' 'Takeoffs And Landings,' 'Full Ride,' and 'Escape From Memory.'

Having grown up in Washington Court House, Margaret Peterson has also written some fantastic books for young readers like 'Because of Anya,' 'Say What? ', 'The Girl With 500 Middle Names', and 'Dexter The Tough.' The last published book of Margaret Peterson was 'Remarkables.'

A fun fact about Margaret Peterson Haddix is that she started writing 'Among The Hidden' after having a conversation with her husband about having more than two kids, which led to them discussing overpopulation, China's one-child policy, and the limited resources we have on earth.

Famous Quotes By Margaret Peterson Haddix

Here are some popular quotes from the works of Margaret Peterson Haddix, the author of children's books.

'Maybe everyone is just waiting for someone else to save them.'

- 'Among the Brave. '

'I can tell you that you will have your hearts broken more by the people you love than by the people you hate. But you must still dare to love. The rewards are worth far more than the risks.'

- 'Into the Gauntlet. '

'Hope doesn't mean anything. ... Action's the only thing that counts.'

- 'Among the Hidden.'

'Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.'

- 'Among the Enemy.'

'That porch is a happy-looking place, and my father - burdened, stoop-shouldered, cadaverously thin - doesn't seem to belong on it.'

- 'Double Identity.'

'The sudden silence is horrifying, and it seems to catch my mother off guard. A tiny whimper escapes her, the sound amplified in the stillness. Surely, my father hears her now; surely he and I can't go on pretending she isn't crying.'

- 'Double Identity.'

'I like to know what I'm celebrating before I put on a party hat.'

- 'The 39 Clues #10: Into the Gauntlet'.

'The story begins like so much else, she says slowly, With hope. Hope and dreams and daring...'

- 'Uprising'.

'I loved to read when I was a kid, and as soon as I realized that an actual person got to make up the books I loved so much, I decided that that was the job for me.'

'I think I learned a lot from reading in general - even from reading badly written books.'

'There is nothing more valuable than the printed word.'

'I write a book over a period of months or years, and when I'm done with it, usually another year goes by before I see it in print. It's hard to be patient and wait.'

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