Beverly Van Hook
Biographical Information
Beverly Van Hook was born on February 2, 1941 in Huntington, WV. She attended Ohio University, graduating cum laude in 1962 with a degree in journalism. She married Donald W. Van Hook, an advertising executive, on October 26, 1963. Van Hook spent the next twenty-two years working as a newspaper journalist 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 and the book is currently in its fifth printing. The second Supergranny case, The Case of the Riverboat Riverbelle, received Van Hook's first national review in School Library Journal. There are now seven Supergranny tales, and the series shows no signs of ending. Van Hook and friends continue to receive orders for the books from major book wholesalers.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.
In addition to her writing career, Beverly Van Hook also conducts "Teaching with Mysteries," a volunteer reading workshop for elementary schools. She lives with her husband and English sheepdog in Charlottesville, VA.
Critical Responses
An editor at Little, Brown, when shown the first Supergranny story, said. "Hilarious characters, good idea for a series, we can't use it." Readers, however, have agreed that the Supergranny characters are hilarious and that the series is a good idea, but, unlike that editor, they have used it. All seven Supergranny novels have sold well, despite being published by a small press. Van Hook has received several awards for her work, including the Cornelia Meigs Award for Children's Literature (Quad City Times, Davenport, IA) and the Isabel Bloom Award for the Arts from the Quad-Cities Women's Coalition.
Works Published
Supergranny Series
- The Mystery of the Shrunken Heads
- The Case of the Riverboat Riverbelle
- The Ghost of Heidelberg Castle
- The Secret of Devil Mountain
- The Character Who Came to Life
- The Great College Caper
- The Villainous Vicar
Fiction
- Fiction, Fact, and Murder
Selected Bibliography
Brems, Florence M. The Secret of Devil Mountain (book review). School Library Journal, March 1989. 35(7), 183.
Brems, Florence M. Supergranny: The Case of the Riverboat Riverbelle (book review). School Library Journal, March 1987. 33, 167.
Fiction, Fact, and Murder (book review). Publishers Weekly, Oct. 9, 1995. 242(41), 80.
Sadasivan, Ruth. The Ghost of Heidelberg Castle (book review). School Library Journal, May 1988. 35(8), 101.
Author Website
none available