Ms. Cheaney is native Texan, who now resides in the Ozarks. She is a former homeschooling parent, who took up writing after the birth of her daughter. She has penned three creative writing workbooks, called the Worksmith series, which are still being used by homeschoolers. In 1996, after the graduation of her son from high school, Cheaney embarked on a new phase of her career as she began work on a novel.
That first novel, The Playmaker, was published in the fall of 2000, and earned a spot on Booklist magazine's top ten best young-adult books by debut authors. Cheaney followed up her success with The True Prince in 2002. Both The Playmaker and The True Prince found a place on the list of the New York Public Library's Best Books for the Teen Age.
My Friend the Enemy, a novel set in World War II Oregon, was published in 2005 and named one of the year's top ten books for children by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, as well as a finalist for the Pen award for best children's novel. And finally, The Middle of Somewhere appeared in 2007 and was nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet award, the Florida Sunshine State Young Readers award, and the Indiana Young Hoosier list.
The 2012 Southwest Missouri Homeschool History Fair is pleased to welcome Ms. Cheaney, as she will be treating visitors with her program, The Home Front. This presentation uses visual images to show how the author’s experience, imagination and
research contributed to her World War II novel, My Friend the Enemy. She will share the elements of her own life
that led to the story’s inspiration (including an adventure in Japan!), then
move on to how she had to imagine her main character’s attitudes after years of
exposure to wartime propaganda (from a name you’ll recognize). Students will learn about rationing,
salvaging and air-patrolling on the home front.
The presentation concludes with a demonstration of the Japanese “Fu-Go
Project,” a little-known episode of World War II that figures in My Friend
the Enemy. You’ll be amazed!
Ms. Cheaney will have copies of her award-winning books available for purchase on the day of the fair. Hard cover editions are priced at $8, while paperback editions will be available for $5.