Jane Gillson Langton is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 mystery

Mystery fiction

Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...

 writer and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of children's literature

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

.

Biography

Langton was born in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. She studied astronomy

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 at Wellesley College and the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1944. She received an M.A. in art history

Art history

Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...

 from the University of Michigan in 1945, and another M.A. from Radcliffe College

Radcliffe College

Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...

 in 1948. She studied at the Boston Museum School

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...

 from 1958 to 1959.

In 1961 Langton wrote and illustrated her first book for children, The Majesty of Grace, a story about a young girl during the Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 who is certain she will some day be Queen of England

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

. Langton has since written a children's series, The Hall Family Chronicles, and the Homer Kelly murder mystery novels. She has also written several stand-alone novels and picture books.

Langton's novel The Fledgling is a Newbery Honor book. Her novel Emily Dickinson is Dead was nominated for an Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 and received a Nero Award

Nero Award

The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout...

. The Face on the Wall was an editors' choice selection by The Drood Review of Mystery for 1998.

Langton lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln is a town in the historic area of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,362 at the 2010 census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits...

, near the town of Concord

Concord, Massachusetts

Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...

, the setting of many of her novels. Her husband, Bill, died in 1997. Langton has three adult sons: Chris

Christopher Langton

Christopher Langton is an American computer scientist and one of the founders of the field of artificial life. He coined the term in the late 1980s when he organized the first "Workshop on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems" at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1987.Langton made...

, David and Andy.

The Hall Family Chronicles

NB: The model for the Hall Family house is located at 148 Walden Street, Concord, MA.

• The Diamond in the Window (1962) Two Concord children begin to share dreams involving their town's literary heroes.
• The Swing in the Summerhouse (1967)
• The Astonishing Stereoscope (1971)
• The Fledgling (1980)Georgie Hall learns to fly.
• The Fragile Flag (1984) Five Concord children are gradually joined by hundreds of others in a walk to Washington D.C. to protest a nuclear bomb.
• The Time Bike (2000)Edward Hall relieves a bike that travels through time.
• The Mysterious Circus (2005)
• The Dragon Tree (2008)

The Homer Kelly novels

• The Transcendental Murder (1964) aka The Minuteman Murder
• Dark Nantucket Noon (1975)
• The Memorial Hall Murder (1978)
• Natural Enemy (1982)
• Emily Dickinson Is Dead (1984)
• Good and Dead (1986)
• Murder at the Gardner (1988)
• The Dante Game (1991)
• God in Concord (1992)
• Divine Inspiration (1993)
• The Shortest Day: Murder at the Revels (1995)
• Dead as a Dodo (1996)
• The Face on the Wall (1998)
• The Thief of Venice (1999)
• Murder at Monticello (2001)
• The Escher Twist (2002)
• The Deserter: Murder at Gettysburg (2003)
• Steeplechase (2005)

Other novels

• The Majesty of Grace (1961) aka Her Majesty Grace Jones
• The Boyhood of Grace Jones (1972)
• Paper Chains (1977)

Picture books

• The Hedgehog Boy: A Latvian Folktale (1985)
• Salt: From a Russian Folktale (1992)
• The String of Pearls (1994)
• Saint Francis and the Wolf (2007)

External links

• Jane Langton's official website (down as of 2009-02-09-- see web.archive.org's copy of the website.)