Rylant, Cynthia

1954 – She was born on the 6th day of June this year Hopewell, Virginia.

1954 – Her parents divorced, she was sent to live with her grandparents in Cool Ridge, West Virginia while her mother attended nursing school.

1960 – She lived in a very depressed economic environment. As a result, she never saw children's books as a child.

1975 – She earned a B.A. degree from Morris Harvey College.

1976 – She got her M.A. degree from Marshall University this year.

1981 - She had received a M.L.S. degree at Kent State University and relocated to Eugene, Oregon, where she still resides.

1982 – She wrote her first book, When I Was Young in the Mountains. The book, which she later said took her an hour to complete, earned an American Book Award this year.

1993 – She was awarded a Newbery Medal for her book Missing May. That year, she also she donated her manuscripts to the library of Kent State University.