I’ve made it no secret how I feel about Ann Rinaldi. She is the author who first introduced me to the joy and wonder of historical fiction and started me down a path that would bring me some of my greatest joy. It won’t come as a great shock that she is one of the first authors I’ve chosen to review.
Ann Feis Rinaldi was born in New York City in 1934. Unfortunately, her mother died shortly after giving birth, so Ann went to live with her aunt and uncle in Brooklyn. She remembers this time as the happiest of her childhood, but after her father remarried, he came to get Ann and took her to live with him and his new wife in New Jersey.
She knew quite early in her life that she wanted to be a writer, but her father did everything he could to talk her out of it. He wouldn’t allow her to go to college, so after she graduated from high school, she became a secretary.
She says of her 1960 marriage to Ron Rinaldi: “Ron was middle-class and sane. I wanted sanity after my crazy upbringing.” Getting married allowed Ann to quit her job, and after she had two children, decided that she would return to her previous dream of writing. She wrote four books, which were, by her own description, “terrible.” But after spending some time in the newspaper business, which taught her much that she needed to know, she wrote and published “Term Paper.” (1979) She followed this up with the sequel “Promises are for Keeping,” and that was the start.
Her interest in history was sparked when her son, Ron, began to participate in Revolutionary War reenactments during his high school years. She visited historical sites and took part in some of the reenactments herself. “I realized I was going to write a young adult novel on the American Revolution. A good one. Not one utilizing all the myths and the famous figures.” Thus “Time Enough for Drums” was born. Of it, she says, “Time Enough for Drums” is close to my heart, my favorite — the one everyone told me not to write! I went against the grain of what everybody told me, but then, that’s what I did in my lifetime, too.” She further states, “These people [the founding fathers of the United States] helped form [my son, Ron’s] foundation for life which, when tested, held strong. It is for this reason that I write historical fiction for young people. If I can ‘turn them on’ to our country’s past, and seize their imaginations as Ron’s was seized, then I may succeed in doing something really worthwhile.”
And do something worthwhile she has. Countless young adults and adults have had history brought to life in front of their eyes because of her ceaseless devotion to her work, which spans decades and covers many aspects of history.
For a complete bibiography of her work, click here.
Previously reviewed books by this author:
Source for this review: Ann Rinaldi Biography