Author,Teacher,SPEAKER
Linda Vigen Phillips
I grew up in an isolated mill town in eastern Oregon where I filled little locked journals full of scritch-scratchy poetry and yearnings to see the other side of the mountains. I didn’t appreciate it then, but I do now. It was an idyllic place to grow up. After a stop at University of Oregon to pick up a B.A. in Sociology, I headed to NYC to save the world. I never once had a job related to the degree and the world remains unsaved. But along the way I taught students with learning challenges, honed my writing skills, married an Episcopal minister, and raised twin boys. Both my parents loved poetry and they passed that love on to me. That’s why both my YA novels are in free verse, and my most recent work is an adult poetry chapbook. I write from the heart about life experiences with the hope that readers can identify and say “yes, I’m not alone in this.” I hope you find something to grab onto as you peruse my website, and if so, I’ll love to hear from you through my contact page.
REVIEWS
“Combining poetic form with a compelling narrative, CRAZY achieves a story of truth and authenticity, and, often, beauty.”
~Patti Gauch, former vice president and editor-at-large of Philomel Books.
“CRAZY is an absorbing, tender and often heartbreaking look at the toll mental illness takes on one family in the 1960s. The best books will leave you better and more compassionate for reading them and this is one of them. I loved it!”
~Karen Harrington, Author of SURE SIGNS OF CRAZY and COURAGE FOR BEGINNERS
“[T]he gorgeous and powerful language and verse structure moved me… Such a rich reading experience!”
~Louise Galveston, Author of BY THE GRACE OF TODD
“It should be in the hands of anyone – teen and adult – who has ever felt powerless at the hands of mental illness.”
~Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, School Library Journal.
“… a compelling and completely believable story of a young girl’s fight against terrible unknowns in her life.”
~Rosi Hollinbeck for the San Francisco Book Review
“Phillips’ accessibly written chronicle will resonate with teens who understand the desire to protect themselves from their families’ inner truths.”
~Booklist
“CRAZY is worth a read for the text’s vivid link between emotions and fine art.”
~Kirkus
“Laura’s story is one that will resonate widely with contemporary readers as they seek avenues of support through their own struggles to remain sensitive to mothers who sometimes disappear, and almost always to some degree disappoint.”
~Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
