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Connie Rose Porter (born July 29, 1959) is an African-American writer best known for young-adult books. She is the seventh child, second youngest of nine children. She and her family grew up in a housing project outside of Buffalo, New York living a simple, money-tight life. Porter started writing at 14 and became a professional writer 20 years later. She went on to earn her bachelor's degree from State University of New York, Albany and her masters at Louisiana State University. She taught English and creative writing at Milton Academy, Emerson College, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She was a fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and was a regional winner in Granta's Best Young American Novelist contest. Porter is best known for her contribution to the American Girl Collection Series as the author of the Addy "books", the coming of age stories about a pre-teenage girl named Addy Walker, who escaped from slavery in North Carolina during the American Civil War and adjusted to life and grew up in freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Six of her Addy books have gone on to sell more than 3 million copies. She is also known for her, novels All-Bright Court (Houghton Mifflin, 1991) about a family living in a northern urban "slum" in Philadelphia during the late 20th century, and Imani All Mine (Houghton Mifflin, 1999) about a 14-year-old mother struggling in a present-day inner-city world of poverty and danger.

She currently lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She lives with her mother and daughter. She describes herself as a black-female writer.

Early Life
Porter spent her childhood and youth growing up in Lackawanna, New York, a small city just outside Buffalo (link) in the Baker Housing project with her family (volume 22 and isssue 5) (Elliot Ian). Her parents survived the Great Depression and lived a straightforward life (volume 22, issue 5). She and her nine siblings span 23 years apart (volum22). She says that she and her family grew up poor, living on a fixed income and experienced some hard times (Porter's Addy Touches). She is reported saying that sometimes all her family would have to eat to for dinner would be egg salad sandwiches, biscuits, and pancakes because that would be all that would be left (Porter's Addy Touches). As a child, Porter described herself as an anxious and quiet child who liked to read, enjoying the works of Lois Lenski and Beverely Cleary (Amazon) (Contemporary Authors). "I would go to the bookstore and buy stuff. My friends would look at me like I was crazy" (Essence).

As she became a teenager, Porter became more interested in works by black writers and about black characters (Readers guide). At age 14, she started writing. When she first told her mother she wanted to be a writer, Porter's mother basically ignored her: "My mother didn't pay me any attention. She was cooking" (Essence) (Author started 14) (Essence). Porter's parent's gave her a type writer as a christmas gift when she was in 10th grade and she started to write poetry. "Inspired by her readings of Nikki Giovanni, she first wrote poetry that was angry and admittedly awful, but that was important to her growing cultural awareness" (Essence). She graduated High School at Buffalo City Honors School, and then moved on to earn her bachelor's degree from State University of New York, Albany (1981) and a Masters of Fine Arts at Louisiana State University (1987) (Elliot Ian) (canisus).

All Bright Court
All Bright Court grew out of as short story assignment porter had to do at SUNY (make it a blue link) (houghton mifflin). It gave her a chance to write about the area where she grew up and the steel industry, an interest of hers (literature). All-Bright Court is about the story of Southern (link) Blacks who move to a Northern town to pursue greater job opportunities and a better life (cite). It centers around the Taylor family and their neighbors living in a low-income apartment complex. However, they find out that through frequent layoffs, dangerous working conditions, their new life is not all they hoped they would be. Despite the living conditions and the new hardships they unknowingly traded for in their move, the tenants and friends foster a sense of community. New York Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani commented that, "Though her prose is often lyrical, even poetic, [Porter] does not shirk from showing the reader the harsh reality of her characters' daily lives. . . . Indeed, the emotional power of All-Bright Court resides in her finely rendered characters, people who come alive for the reader as individuals one has known firsthand." All-Bright Court was her debut novel (literature).

All Bright Court
All Bright Court grew out of a short story assignment Porter had to do at LSU. It gave her a chance to write about the area where she grew up and the steel industry, an interest of hers. All-Bright Court is about the story of Southern Blacks who move to a Northern town to pursue greater job opportunities and a better life. It centers around the Taylor family and their neighbors living in a low-income apartment complex. However, they find out that through frequent layoffs, dangerous working conditions, their new life is not all they hoped they would be. Despite the living conditions and the new hardships they unknowingly traded for when they moved, the tenants and friends foster a sense of community. New York Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani commented that, "Though her prose is often lyrical, even poetic, [Porter] does not shirk from showing the reader the harsh reality of her characters' daily lives. . . . Indeed, the emotional power of All-Bright Court resides in her finely rendered characters, people who come alive for the reader as individuals one has known firsthand". All-Bright Court was her debut novel.

Addy Series
The Addy Series bases itself off of the American Girl doll of the same name, one of the original Historical Characters. Pleasant Company, the owner of American Girl, approached Porter to write the series (touches). The books follow Addy Walker, a young slave who runs away with her mother to freedom in Philadelphia during the American Civil War. There, she grows up and faces challenges in the urban North, such as learning to read (literature). In preparation for writing a novel with the heavy issue of slavery as the basis of the book, she did extensive research about 1864 to accurately portray the era and environment to help the reader achieve a real sense of being in 1864 (Elliot). "As a writer, you have to put yourself in the place of other people and other worlds" (Elliot). She also refused to negotiate on the book's slavery theme, which was met with controversy (touches). She also tried to accurately portray the hardships surrounding slavery in a way that would engage her readers and not alienate them. "Slavery is difficult for even adults to talk about...I didn't want to portray slavery as everyone on a porch or wearing beautiful clothes. It was a very awful period, but we're also talking about people who had loving families" (Playing With the Past NEW). When Addy was introduced in 1993, over 1 million books were sold and Porter's popularity soared and more than 15,000 came to meet her (touches). Porter's Addy novels have sold more than 3 million copies .

Imani All Mine
Imani All Mine is Porter's second adult novel. Released in 1998 after the first six Addy books, the novel is the coming of age tale of Tasha, a black 15-year old girl growing up in Buffalo, New York, a honors student who wants to go to college to escape her innner city life (literature) (books). However, her plans takes an unexpected turn when she becomes pregnant after a rape. She names the baby Imani, meaning "faith". As she tries to raise Imani, she struggles to be a good mother in a dangerous environment filled with drugs, gangs, poverty, and bigotry while also dealing with common teenage problems such as sexuality and her mother's new white boyfriend (literature).

Awards and Honors
Porter has been named a fellow to Bread Load Writers' Conference (Contemporary HOoors). She was also awarded a regional winner in Grants Best Young American Novelist Competition (canisus). All-Bright Court became an American Library Association Best Book of 1991 and a New York Times (link) Notable Book (canisus).

Personal Life
She considers herself a black female writer, incorporating the intersectionality of her identities into her work. "I surely have been black and female all my life and now, because I am a writer, I do not want to stop describing myself in that way. I do not fear that, because there is some descriptive tag before the word "writer," I will be pigeonholed. Racism and sexism are what can pigeonhole you. They can limit, even stop you. Not describing myself as a black woman will not prevent that from happening".

At one point, Porter lived in Pittsburgh with her mother and 18 month old daughter (1st one). She has had experience teaching 9th grade. She is very interested in science, at one point wanting to be a physicist, an oceanographer, or a marine biologist (author started writing) (Elliot). She still reads science books for relaxation, and listens and sings along to Broadway Show tunes (Amazon). She has the whole Addy doll collection because she is the author (touches). Other authors she admires are Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, Richard Wright, Louise Meriwether, Rosa Guy, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Jean Toomer, Ralph Ellison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, and Terry McMillan (reader's guide

Other authors she admires are Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, Richard Wright, Louise Meriwether, Rosa Guy, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Jean Toomer, Ralph Ellison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, and Terry McMillan

She considers herself a black female writer, incorporating the intersectionality of her identities into her work. "I surely have been black and female all my life and now, because I am a writer, I do not want to stop describing myself in that way. I do not fear that, because there is some descriptive tag before the word "writer," I will be pigeonholed. Racism and sexism are what can pigeonhole you. They can limit, even stop you. Not describing myself as a black woman will not prevent that from happening".


 * All-Bright Court, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991. ISBN 0-395-53271-X (1992 paperback reprint, New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 0-06-097498-2; 2000 prebound reprint, Sagebrush. ISBN 0-613-27703-1)
 * Meet Addy: An American girl (illustrations by Melodye Rosales, vignettes by Renée Graef and Luann Roberts), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1993. ISBN 1-56247-076-0 (paperback ISBN 1-56247-075-2)
 * Addy Learns a Lesson: A school story (illustrations by Melodye Rosales, vignettes by Renée Graef and Jane Varda), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1993. ISBN 1-56247-078-7 (paperback ISBN 1-56247-077-9)
 * Addy's Surprise: A Christmas story (illustrations by Melodye Rosales, vignettes by Renée Graef and Jane Varda), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1993. ISBN 1-56247-080-9 (paperback ISBN 1-56247-079-5)
 * Happy Birthday, Addy!: A springtime story (illustrations by Bradford Brown, vignettes by Renée Graef and Geri Strigenz Bourget), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-56247-082-5 (paperback ISBN 1-56247-081-7)
 * Addy Saves the Day: A summer story (illustrations by Bradford Brown, vignettes by Renée Graef and Geri Strigenz Bourget), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-56247-084-1 (paperback ISBN 1-56247-083-3)
 * Changes for Addy: A winter story (illustrations by Bradford Brown, vignettes by Renée Graef and Geri Strigenz Bourget), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-56247-086-8 (paperback ISBN 1-56247-085-X)
 * Imani All Mine, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999. ISBN 0-618-05678-5 (2000 paperback reprint ISBN 0-395-83808-8)
 * High Hopes for Addy (illustrations by John Thompson and Dahl Taylor, vignettes by Susan McAliley), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 1999. ISBN 1-56247-765-X
 * Addy's Little Brother (illustrations by Gabriela Dellosso and Dahl Taylor, vignettes by Susan McAliley), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 2000. ISBN 1-58485-033-7
 * Addy's Wedding Quilt (illustrations by Dahl Taylor, vignettes by Susan McAliley), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 2001. ISBN 1-58485-274-7
 * Addy Studies Freedom (illustrations by Dahl Taylor, vignettes by Renée Graef, Philip Hood, and Jane Varda), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-58485-480-4
 * Addy's Summer Place (illustrations by Dahl Taylor, vignettes by Renée Graef), Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications, 2003. ISBN 1-58485-697-1

Ms. Porter currently has a new book,Not Afraid.

Media
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