An American children's novel writer. Her parents were religious missionaries in China. She was born there in Jiangsu Province, and thus the first language she learned was Chinese. She lived in China in 1932 for a number of years, then lived in Japan between 1957 and 1961. She married in 1962 and gave birth to four children, while her first book was entitled "The Sign of the Chrysanthemum." Among her novels is "Bridge to Terabithia," which was turned into a movie.