Mary Haynes
Biographical Information
Children’s book author Mary Haynes was born in Duluth, Minnesota, June 1, 1938, the daughter of a local minister. She pursued higher education at several colleges, attending both the University of the Pacific and the University of Vienna before completing a BA at Drake University in Des Moines in 1961. Ms. Haynes spent time as a teacher both in Chicago, Illinois and in Jefferson County, West Virginia. In addition, she worked as a bookseller, an editor for the Appalachian Trail Conference. She also served time as president of the board of trustees of the Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library (WV) and as president of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D. C. Mary Haynes and her husband David, and antiques dealer, live in Harpers Ferry, WV.Mary Haynes published her first children’s book, Pot Belly Tales, in 1982. The book is a series of vignettes set in time periods that cover almost a century, following the different owners of the same potbelly stove. The story begins in 1888 with the casting of the stove seen through the eyes of the manufacturer’s young daughter and continues through ten more owners as the stove changes hands and times change and society moves onward. Her second book appeared a year later, when she published Wordchanger. A story of family relationships and growing up, Wordchanger is the story of a young boy named William, his stepfather Bruno, and a wonderfully scary machine that has the power to change words, a machine with nearly infinite possibilities. With the help of a young girl named Lily and several adults, William must expose Bruno as a villain and prevent the wordchanger from being used for only personal gain.
Mary Haynes did not publish her third juvenile novel, Raider’s Sky, until 1989. A poisonous green gas has killed most of the world’s adults—leaving only a few surviving adults to supervise the many children who survived. One young girl, with a help of a group of adult rebels, attempts to escape the domination of the “Children’s Concern” and save the children being held prisoner.
A post-apocalypse survival novel, Raider’s Sky received lackluster reviews—praised for interesting ideas that were unfortunately not explored and developed. Raider’s Sky was followed in 1989 by Catch the Sea. An artist is commissioned by a wealthy woman to paint pictures of the sea for her new condominium. The pictures he paints are not pleasing to her, and she refuses to accept them. Lily, the artist’s young daughter, convincing the woman to give her father another week to complete the paintings, then, when he leaves her alone at home to travel to an art show, Lily paints the ocean scenes herself. Lily is the center of the story, a thirteen-year-old girl standing on the brink of womanhood, who is forced to discover her own strength and resourcefulness, to explore her own buried talents, to save herself and her father.Her last published novel, The Great Pretenders, was released in 1990. The Great Pretenders is a novel about changing and belonging, about growing up and discovering whom you are. Eleven-year-old Molly moves from urban Chicago to a small town near Washington, D.C. Confused and out-of-place, she accidentally insults the daughter of the mayor and quickly is deemed a social outcast. With the help of a friendly eight-year-old boy and a retired actress, Molly uses the Fourth of July parade to help redeem herself in the eyes of the town.
Critical Responses
Mary Haynes is known for writing stories to reassure and inspire students as they struggle to deal with growing up and all the problems and responsibilities that come with it. Her characters are most often children in early adolescence, eleven to thirteen years of age, who must look within themselves for the strength and the inspiration to overcome the problems they face. Although some critics have complained that Haynes’s stories feature unoriginal plots and suffer from poor character development, others have praised her work as both reassuring and entertaining for young readers.
Works Published
- Pot Belly Tales
- Wordchanger
- Raider's Sky
- Catch the Sea
- The Great Pretenders
Selected Bibliography
Camper, Cathryn A. Raider's Sky (book review). School Library Journal, June-July 1987. 33, 96.Fakih, Kimberly Olson. Catch the Sea (book review). Publishers Weekly, March 24, 1989. 235(12), 72.
Heins, Paul. Wordchanger (book review). The Horn Book Magazine, October 1983. 59, 573.
Price, Anne. The Great Pretenders (book review). School Library Journal, November 1990. 36(11), 115.
Reeder, Nancy P. Catch the Sea (book review). School Library Journal, May 1989. 35(9), 109.
Roback, Diane. Raider's Sky (book review). Publishers Weekly, May 29, 1987. 231, 79.
Tyrrell, Connie. Pot Belly Tales (book review). School Library Journal, September 1982. 29, 122.
Author Website
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