"From the summer I was twelve, and taught a neighborhood child to read--he had never learned, even though he was almost nine--I knew I'd be a teacher," Reeder commented on her home page. Earning her degree from American University, that is exactly what she did, teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade as well as reading classes.
Later, however, married with two children, Reeder began working together with her husband at night on writing projects. Devoted hikers and campers, the Reeders wrote three nonfiction titles together about their favorite place for hiking, the Shenandoah National Park. Soon, however, her husband's busy schedule kept him from further collaborative efforts, and Reeder continued on her own, researching and writing historical novels. "I decided to try my hand at fiction and write for young people because I knew that kids love a good story," Reeder explained.
For her first fiction book, Shades of Gray, Reeder chose the period just after the Civil War. While the bloody battles of the conflict are in the past, for twelve-year-old Will Page, the pain of the war is still very much in the present.
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