Fast Forward Social Studies Basics

Patricia McCormick, a two-time National Book Award finalist, is the author of five critically acclaimed novels: Never Fall Down, a novel based on the true story of an 11-year-old boy who survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia by playing music; Purple Heart, a suspenseful psychological novel that explores the killing of a 10-year-old boy in Iraq; Sold, a deeply moving account of sexual trafficking; My Brother's Keeper, a realistic view of teenage substance abuse; and Cut, an intimate portrait of one girl's struggle with self-injury.

McCormick grew up in central Pennsylvania. She worked as an assistant press secretary to the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1974-78, then went to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. McCormick studied fiction writing at The New School in New York City.

Never Fall Down was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2012 and was named a New York Times Notable Book for 2012. It was also named a Best Book of the Year by iTunes, The Huffington Post, School Library Journal and the Chicago Public Library.

McCormick was named a New York Foundation on the Arts fellow in 2004 and a MacDowell fellow in 2009. She is also the winner of the 2009 German Peace Prize for Youth Literature.

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