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Johanna Hurwitz

Author of Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark

86+ Works 12,117 Members 105 Reviews

About the Author

Children's author, Johanna Hurwitz was born and raised in New York City. She attended Queens College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and then Columbia University for her master's in Library Science. She worked as a librarian and taught graduate courses in children's literature and show more storytelling. Her first title, Busybody Nora was published in 1976 and she has been writing a book or two a year ever since. Her other titles include Dear Emma, Summer with Elisa, A Llama in the Family, Busybody Nora and the Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein. She has written over 60 titles. Her works have won her several state awards, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award, the Garden State Children's Choice Award, and the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Johanna Hurwitz

Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (1997) 1,216 copies, 24 reviews
Class President (1990) 1,136 copies, 3 reviews
Class Clown (1987) 965 copies, 4 reviews
New Shoes for Silvia (1993) 474 copies, 17 reviews
A Llama in the Family (1994) 473 copies, 3 reviews
The Hot and Cold Summer (1984) 469 copies, 3 reviews
Fourth-Grade Fuss (2004) 398 copies
Anne Frank: Life in Hiding (1993) 356 copies, 3 reviews
Busybody Nora (1976) 351 copies, 1 review
The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein (1985) 345 copies, 3 reviews
Baseball Fever (1981) 287 copies
School's Out! (1991) 269 copies
Teacher's Pet (1988) 240 copies, 2 reviews
Russell Sprouts (1987) 235 copies
Rip-Roaring Russell (1983) 233 copies
Russell and Elisa (1989) 222 copies, 1 review
Aldo Applesauce (1979) 212 copies
One Small Dog (2000) 211 copies, 2 reviews
Hurray for Ali Baba Bernstein (1989) 210 copies, 1 review
Aldo Ice Cream (1981) 205 copies
Pee Wee's tale (2000) 197 copies, 1 review
Much Ado About Aldo (1978) 177 copies, 2 reviews
Tough-Luck Karen (1982) 162 copies, 3 reviews
New Neighbors for Nora (1979) 147 copies
Summer with Elisa (2000) 139 copies, 1 review
Faraway Summer (1998) 136 copies, 1 review
School Spirit (1994) 131 copies, 1 review
Superduper Teddy (1980) 108 copies
Dede Takes Charge! (1984) 103 copies
The Cold and Hot Winter (1988) 96 copies
Russell Rides Again (1985) 95 copies
Lexi's Tale (2001) 95 copies
The Rabbi's Girls (1982) 95 copies, 3 reviews
Ever Clever Elisa (1997) 87 copies
Spring Break (1997) 86 copies
Aldo Peanut Butter (1990) 77 copies
Starting School (1998) 76 copies
Once I Was a Plum Tree (1980) 75 copies
Bunk Mates (1986) 56 copies
Mostly Monty (2007) 56 copies, 2 reviews
Elisa in the Middle (1995) 55 copies
"E" Is for Elisa (1991) 52 copies, 1 review
The Up and Down Spring (1993) 52 copies
Dear Emma (2002) 51 copies, 1 review
Pee Wee & Plush (2002) 42 copies
Oh No, Noah! (2002) 40 copies
The Two and Only Kelly Twins (2013) 40 copies, 1 review
Make Room for Elisa (1993) 36 copies
Roz and Ozzie (1992) 35 copies
Squirrel World (2007) 33 copies
Ali Baba Bernstein, Lost and Found (1992) 32 copies, 2 reviews
Elisa Michaels, Bigger & Better (2003) 31 copies, 1 review
Hurricane Elaine (1986) 30 copies
Mighty Monty (2008) 27 copies
Russell's Secret (2001) 26 copies, 5 reviews
A Llama in the Library (1999) 25 copies
Magical Monty (2012) 23 copies, 1 review
Amazing Monty (2010) 21 copies
Ozzie on His Own (1995) 21 copies
Even Stephen (1996) 21 copies
The Just Desserts Club (1999) 18 copies, 2 reviews
Ethan Out and About (2002) — Author — 18 copies, 1 review
Ethan's Bike (2002) 15 copies
A Dream Come True (1998) 12 copies, 2 reviews
Ethan's Lunch (2002) 10 copies
Ethan at Home (2003) 9 copies, 2 reviews
Ethan's Birds (2002) 7 copies
Ethan's Cat (2002) 7 copies
Ethan Sneezes (2003) 2 copies
Ethan Cleans (2003) 1 copy
Ethan and the Snow (2003) 1 copy

Associated Works

It's Heaven To Be Seven (2000) — Contributor — 211 copies, 2 reviews
It's Fine To Be Nine (2000) — Contributor — 127 copies
Don't Give Up the Ghost: A Book of Ghost Stories (1993) — Contributor — 29 copies, 2 reviews
Funny You Should Ask (1992) — Contributor — 18 copies
Period Pieces: Stories for Girls (2003) — Contributor — 15 copies, 2 reviews
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 6, February 1981 (1981) — Contributor — 3 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 4, December 1974 (1974) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1937-10-09
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Places of residence
Great Neck, New York, USA

Members

Discussions

aldo applesauce in Combiners! (August 2022)

Reviews

Very cute. She's such a clever little girl, always ready to solve problems and make everything better. FotL Chanute.
 
Flagged
Cheryl_in_CC_NV | Oct 18, 2024 |
LFL find. Cute enough, but I never did understand the audience of chapter books with main characters who are too young to read. I found the episodes just a bit boring, too. Sorry.
 
Flagged
Cheryl_in_CC_NV | Oct 18, 2024 |
Simple, nice, wholesome historical fiction. Might be special for the right child at the right time, but I guess I'm too jaded.
 
Flagged
Cheryl_in_CC_NV | Oct 18, 2024 |
3.5 stars rounded up because I felt like I learned so much about what it was like to be a Jewish family in the 1920s *not* in NYC. Mostly a cheerful book, but since it's (apparently) inspired by the author's mother's childhood, it has real life hardships, too.

Better, imo, than All of a Kind Family in that it explains why a son is desired so much that they try six times.
 
Flagged
Cheryl_in_CC_NV | 2 other reviews | Oct 18, 2024 |

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Statistics

Works
86
Also by
8
Members
12,117
Popularity
#1,936
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
105
ISBNs
564
Languages
3

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