Walter Dean Myers Dies: Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers has died at age 76 pm July 1, 2014, from complications from pneumonia. With more than 100 books for children and teens to his credit, Myers was also an advocate for children and books, and received numerous awards. From 2012-2013 he served as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for the Library of Congress, and won five Coretta Scott King Awards and two Newbery Honors, and was nominated for the National Book Award three times. His books included Monster (Harper, 1999) and Scorpions (1990). He recently wrote editorials advocating for more ethnic diversity in books for children. For more information: www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/nyregion/walter-dean-myers-author-whose-gritty-tales-spoke-to-youths-in-cities-is-dead-at-76.html.
Freaky Friday Author Mary Rodgers Dies: Mary Rodgers died at home in New York City 
on June 26, 2014 at the age of 83. Daughter of composer Richard Rodgers (“Oklahoma,” “Carousel,”) Mary Rodgers wrote the Broadway musical “Once Upon a Mattress.” Her children’s novels included Freaky Friday (1972), A Billion for Boris (1974), and Summer Switch (1982). Freaky Friday was made into a hit feature film twice: the 1976 version starring Jodie Foster, and the 2003 version starring Lindsay Lohan. For more information: www.nytimes.com/2014/06/28/nyregion/mary-rodgers-author-and-composer-and-daughter-of-richard-rodgers-dies-at-83.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140628.
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