Beverly Van Hook
Born: February 2, 1941 in Huntington, West Virgina
Died: August 13, 2008, at her home in Charlottesville, Virginia Pen Name: None Connection to Illinois: *Lived in Rock Island County for all but four years between 1963-1993 Biography: Beverly Van Hook was an award-winning journalist and best-selling author who had lived in the Quad-Cities of Illinois. Beverly grew up in West Virginia and attended Ohio University, graduating cum laude in 1962 with a degree in journalism. In early 1964, Beverly moved to Burlington, VT with her husband. There, Beverly was a city reporter for the Burlington Free Press.They then moved to Moline, IL for her husband's job. Beverly quickly became editor of a monthly publication for Augustana College in nearby Rock Island, Illinois. While her children were young, Beverly worked as a successful freelance writer,publishing articles in national publications including ''Reader’s Digest'' and ''Family Circle''. Her husband's company transferred the family to Germany for nearly four years in the mid-70’s and she continued freelancing, publishing a very successful series on what it was like foran American family to experience German culture and send their children to German schools. Once back in the Quad Cities, she wrote award-winning feature articles for the ''Quad-City Times'' newspaper, co-hosted her own radio talk show, and had a special television segment on the local ABC-affiliate evening news reviewing books.All in all, Beverly spent twenty-two years working before resigning to focus on a fiction-writing career. Her first book was a children's mystery story, ''The Mystery of the Shrunken Heads'', which introduced the character Supergranny, a 'gray-haired detective who drives a red Ferrari and fights crime.' Unable to get a publisher for the book, Van Hook and several friends decided to publish the book themselves. Supergranny and her sidekicks Shackleford the English sheepdog and Chesterton the gum-drop powered mini-robot proved to be very popular. The first printing of the novel sold out in ten months. The second Supergranny case, ''The Case of the Riverboat Riverbelle'', received Van Hook's first national review in School Library Journal. In 1993, Beverly and her husband moved to Charlottesville, VA to be closer to family.In 1995, Van Hook published her first novel for adults, ''Fiction, Fact, and Murder''. The novel introduces amateur sleuth Liza Randolph, author of Supergramps, a children's mystery series, and her husband Dutch. The novel is set in a town based loosely on Buckhannon, WV, and features a college very similar to West Virginia Wesleyan College.The success of the Supergranny books led to high demand for Beverly as a speaker at schools and libraries. Over a 15-year period, she spoke to more than a half million children between the ages of 8 to 12. The books are still used in schools across the Midwest, and the series has been optioned three times by Hollywood production companies for the movies.
Awards:
Selected Titles
Boss supergranny ISBN: 0916761525 OCLC: 206123993 Holderby & Bierce, Charlottesville, Va. : 2007. The story of how Beverly Van Hook, a newspaper reporter, decided to write her Supergranny mysteries. |
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Fiction, fact, and murder : ISBN: 0916761509 OCLC: 34618471 Holderby & Bierce, Bettendorf, Iowa : 1995. |
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Juliet's ghost : ISBN: 0916761517 OCLC: 53436778 Holderby & Bierce, Charlottesville, Va. : 2003. |
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Supergranny ISBN: 0916761193 OCLC: 18742435 Holderby and Bierce 1985 |
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Supergranny, the case of the riverboat Riverbelle ISBN: 0916761029 OCLC: 15081171 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, Ill. : ©1986. |
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Supergranny, the character who came to life ISBN: 0916761126 OCLC: 20729936 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, Ill. : ©1989. A famous Chicago mystery writer summons Supergranny's help when the villain in her book seems to come alive. From the lake front, Art Institute, Chicago Public Library and Brookfield Zoo to the El and a secret room above a Loop supper club, it's nonstop adventure for the elderly detective and pals. Fifth in the series. |
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Supergranny, the mystery of the shrunken heads ISBN: 0916761010 OCLC: 12827873 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, Ill. : ©1985. |
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Supergranny, the secret of devil mountain ISBN: 0916761045 OCLC: 18664900 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, Ill. : ©1988. Supergranny and friends set out to help a long-lost relative in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia and became entangled in international intrigue involving a missing ambassador. Senior citizens on a bus tour help the Supergranny gang crack the case. |
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The Graduate's guide to life / ISBN: 0916761002 OCLC: 12175119 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, Ill. : 1984. |
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The great college caper / ISBN: 0916761142 OCLC: 29361324 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, IL : ©1991. |
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The mystery of the shrunken heads / ISBN: 0916761169 OCLC: 24372474 Holderby & Bierce, Rock Island, Ill. : ©1985. Three children find adventure when they move next door to Supergranny and her spoiled robot, Chesterton. |
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The villainous vicar / ISBN: 0916761258 OCLC: 37141009 Holderby & Bierce, Bettendorf, Iowa : 1996. Supergranny and the Poindexter kids fly to England for a party and wind up tracking a pseudovicar and his car-theft ring from Cambridge University to an abandoned abbey in the Yorkshire Moors. |