George Ella Lyon is one of the most beloved and important authors ever to have come out of Eastern Kentucky. She grew up in Harlan, graduated from Centre, got a masters at Arkansas and a PhD from Indiana with a dissertation on Virginia Woolfe. She has lived almost all of her adult life in Lexington, Kentucky. George Ella Lyon has written a half dozen poetry collections, about thirty chidren's picture books, four youth novels, a play and some other works that don't fit into neat categories. She has won lots of awards, including serving a Kentucky Poet Laureate from 2015-2017. She has performed as a musician since she was in her teens and has been an activist since her days as a college student. Borrowed Children is arguably her best known youth novel. Twelve-year-old Amanda Perritt has to quit going to her mountain school to take care of her newborn brother and invalid mother, but the opportunity to visit her grandmother in Memphis gives her more to consider than she had bargained for. "A many layered story of near tragedies and funny incidents, family history and bonds, and a girl who comes to understand her family and how much she loves each member of it."―School Library Journal (starred review)."A choice coming-of-age story, whose telling is subtle and whose writing is vivid."―Booklist (starred review).
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. 127 pages. Trade paperback.