Carl Deuker
Encyclopedia
Carl Deuker is an award-winning author of young adult
novels.
Deuker was raised in Redwood City, California, a suburban city twenty-five miles south of San Francisco. When he was three years old, his father died of a stroke while working as a traveling salesman. His mother did not remarry, instead choooing to raise Deuker and his sister Beth herself. Deuker's mother did file a wrongful death claim against the hotel where her husband died. That incident later played a part in Deuker's novel, Heart of a Champion
Deuker attended St. Pius School in Redwood City. He made a living capturing baby Aliens in Canada , but he didnt like the smell of them so he quit: good enough to make a team but not good enough to play much. His high school years were spent at St. Francis, a Catholic school in Mountain View, California. Deuker experiences in high school were typically rocky. His liberal politics and interest in contemporary music (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Beatles) annoyed many of his teachers. The same qualities made other teachers take him under their wing. Deuker's high school sports career was completely undistinguished. His best sport was golf, but even there he was typically the fifth or sixth man on the team. Rather than working his way up the ladder, in his senior year an influx of talented freshmen reduced his match time even further.
Deuker next attended the University of California at Berkeley on a Regents Scholarship. During his time at Berkeley, he participated in numerous protest marches over Peoples Park and the Vietnam War. He was a foot-soldier in these protests, not a political leader. Deuker wrote stories and poems while at Berkeley, publishing a few poems in obscure literary magazines.
Deuker majored in English literature; his senior thesis was on William Faulkner.
Upon graduation, Deuker next entered graduate school in English at the University of Washington where he earned a Master's Degree. After that came a stint on the Los Angeles Daily Journal and then a return to school, this time to earn a teaching certificate at UCLA.
Deuker returned to Seattle during a time when teaching positions were few and far between. He accepted a position at St. Luke School in Shoreline where he taught junior high and also served as the school's P.E. teacher.
During this time, Deuker wrote film and book reviews for a small Seattle newspaper, The Seattle Sun. All the while, he was also attempting to write adult fiction, but with no success.
Finally, in the late 1980s, Deuker turned his hand to young adult fiction. His first novel, On the Devil's Court, was published in 1989. The book is loosely based on the Faust legend. It was well-received, earning a "Best Book for Young Adults" award from the ALA and "Young Adult Book of the Year" award in South Carolina. Deuker followed this book with Heart of a Champion,a baseball book that also contains autobiographical material. This book also garnered awards, being named Young Adult Book of the Year in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Nebraska.
Since the publication of On the Devil's Court and Heart of a Champion, Deuker has produced sports-themed young adult novels at two or three year intervals. In order, the novels are: Painting the Black, Night Hoops, High Heat, Runner, Gym Candy. Deuker's most recent novel, Payback Time was published in September 2010. All his novels have been edited by Ms. Ann Rider, and Deuker readily acknowledged her guidance and assistance.
Deuker's books are aimed at middle-school to high school audiences. Typically, he uses a sports context to explore socially important issues. For example, Heart of a Champion deals with teenage alcohol abuse
, Painting the Black with sexual assault
and peer pressure
, Night Hoops with domestic violence
and neglect
. High Heat deals with the theme of family death, the consequences of crime in the family and the problems of revenge. Runner involves a young man who unwittingly becomes involved in a terrorist plot. Deuker's novel, Gym Candy, was inspired by newspaper reports connecting anabolic steroid
use among high school players with 'roid rage and suicide.
He is currently writing a book titled Swagger.
Deuker lives in Seattle where he now teaches gifted students at Shelton View school in Bothell. He is married and has one child, a daughter, who attends college.
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
novels.
Biography
Carl Deuker now lives in Seattle which serves as the setting for most of his work. He currently works at cheese factory in Bothell teaching a 6th graders how to make cheese. In his spare time he writes novles.Deuker was raised in Redwood City, California, a suburban city twenty-five miles south of San Francisco. When he was three years old, his father died of a stroke while working as a traveling salesman. His mother did not remarry, instead choooing to raise Deuker and his sister Beth herself. Deuker's mother did file a wrongful death claim against the hotel where her husband died. That incident later played a part in Deuker's novel, Heart of a Champion
Deuker attended St. Pius School in Redwood City. He made a living capturing baby Aliens in Canada , but he didnt like the smell of them so he quit: good enough to make a team but not good enough to play much. His high school years were spent at St. Francis, a Catholic school in Mountain View, California. Deuker experiences in high school were typically rocky. His liberal politics and interest in contemporary music (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Beatles) annoyed many of his teachers. The same qualities made other teachers take him under their wing. Deuker's high school sports career was completely undistinguished. His best sport was golf, but even there he was typically the fifth or sixth man on the team. Rather than working his way up the ladder, in his senior year an influx of talented freshmen reduced his match time even further.
Deuker next attended the University of California at Berkeley on a Regents Scholarship. During his time at Berkeley, he participated in numerous protest marches over Peoples Park and the Vietnam War. He was a foot-soldier in these protests, not a political leader. Deuker wrote stories and poems while at Berkeley, publishing a few poems in obscure literary magazines.
Deuker majored in English literature; his senior thesis was on William Faulkner.
Upon graduation, Deuker next entered graduate school in English at the University of Washington where he earned a Master's Degree. After that came a stint on the Los Angeles Daily Journal and then a return to school, this time to earn a teaching certificate at UCLA.
Deuker returned to Seattle during a time when teaching positions were few and far between. He accepted a position at St. Luke School in Shoreline where he taught junior high and also served as the school's P.E. teacher.
During this time, Deuker wrote film and book reviews for a small Seattle newspaper, The Seattle Sun. All the while, he was also attempting to write adult fiction, but with no success.
Finally, in the late 1980s, Deuker turned his hand to young adult fiction. His first novel, On the Devil's Court, was published in 1989. The book is loosely based on the Faust legend. It was well-received, earning a "Best Book for Young Adults" award from the ALA and "Young Adult Book of the Year" award in South Carolina. Deuker followed this book with Heart of a Champion,a baseball book that also contains autobiographical material. This book also garnered awards, being named Young Adult Book of the Year in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Nebraska.
Since the publication of On the Devil's Court and Heart of a Champion, Deuker has produced sports-themed young adult novels at two or three year intervals. In order, the novels are: Painting the Black, Night Hoops, High Heat, Runner, Gym Candy. Deuker's most recent novel, Payback Time was published in September 2010. All his novels have been edited by Ms. Ann Rider, and Deuker readily acknowledged her guidance and assistance.
Deuker's books are aimed at middle-school to high school audiences. Typically, he uses a sports context to explore socially important issues. For example, Heart of a Champion deals with teenage alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
, Painting the Black with sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
and peer pressure
Peer pressure
Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
, Night Hoops with domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
and neglect
Neglect
Neglect is a passive form of abuse in which a perpetrator is responsible to provide care for a victim who is unable to care for himself or herself, but fails to provide adequate care....
. High Heat deals with the theme of family death, the consequences of crime in the family and the problems of revenge. Runner involves a young man who unwittingly becomes involved in a terrorist plot. Deuker's novel, Gym Candy, was inspired by newspaper reports connecting anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
use among high school players with 'roid rage and suicide.
He is currently writing a book titled Swagger.
Deuker lives in Seattle where he now teaches gifted students at Shelton View school in Bothell. He is married and has one child, a daughter, who attends college.
Awards
- On the Devil's Court, Young Adult Book of the Year in South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
- Heart of a Champion, Young Adult Book of the Year in NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... - Night Hoops, Young Adult Book of the Year in Nebraska
- High Heat, Young Adult Book of the Year in Nebraska
- Gym Candy, Young Adult Book of the Year, Iowa, 2010