The Sign of the Beaver

Elizabeth George Speare was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, on November 21, 1908. She lived in New England all her life. A graduate of Boston University, Speare always wanted to write but didn’t start untill her two children were in junior high school. She won the 1959 Newbery Medal for The Witch of Blackbird Pond and the 1962 Newbery Medal for The Bronze Bow. Speare also received a Newbery Honor Award in 1983 for The Sign of the Beaver, and in 1989 she was presented with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her substantial and enduring contribution to children’s literature. She passed away in 1994.