Sylvia Cassedy
An American author of picture books, poetry, and fiction, the Brooklyn-born creative-writing teacher began her career with a few minor picture books, such as Little Chameleon (1966), but is best known today for her poetry and novels. Roomrimes (1987) and the posthumously published Zoomrimes: Poems about Things That Go (1993) were praised for their perceptiveness, humor, and unusual variety of poetic forms.
Cassedy's three novels, Behind the Attic Wall (1983), M.E. and Morton (1987), and Lucie Babbidge's House (1989) are all intricate, leisurely paced novels about troubled or difficult protagonists who gain self-esteem through the intervention of possibly magical characters.
The author's incisive characterizations, carefully wrought prose, and ambiguous endings made her a critics’ favorite.
Cassedy's early death cut short an extraordinary writing career that had yet to peak, and fans can only wonder about—and mourn the loss of—the novels that were yet to be.
“I love the name Maggie, he went on, and she glanced up at him suspiciously-nobody loved the name Maggie-but his face was serious. It makes your teeth feel good to say it. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. It feels like eating peanuts. Try it, and he paused, waiting for her to recite her name aloud.She turned away, but she did try it anyway, to herself, and she felt a surprising tingle around her upper molars.”