GiGi Amateau

Author Gigi Amateau was born in northeastern Mississippi and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia, just outside of Richmond. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Urban Studies and Planning, she has worked for nearly twenty years in Richmond's non-profit community serving people with AIDS, older adults, and people who are homeless.

Her first young adult novel, Claiming Georgia Tate (Candlewick Press, 2005), described as "a moving first offering" by School Library Journal, was selected as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, Voice of Youth Advocates Review Editor's Choice, and a Book Sense Children's Pick. It was also nominated for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Children's Book Award and the American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults list.

Gigi Amateau lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and daughter. Her first middle-grade novel, Chancey of the Maury River, will be published by Candlewick Press in 2008. She continues in her non-profit career, too, working with community and state advocates to transform Virginia's long-term care system for older adults and individuals with disabilities.

She loves reading about John Adams, riding horses in the mountains, gardening with native plants, and watching birds.

A few favorite photos

That’s me around 15 months old playing in my first snow in Oxford, Mississippi.

Back from fishing with Granddaddy. See that really big catfish? I caught that one. Okay, maybe I caught that fish; maybe Granddaddy caught it.

Usually, I drive a Highlander Hybrid. This is Albert; he’s my other car and the inspiration for Chancey!

This is my beautiful grammy on my wedding day! She and my mom walked me down the aisle to Go Tell Aunt Rhody, played by my then nine year old daughter on her violin.