GiGi Amateau

Gigi Amateau's first book for young adults, Claiming Georgia Tate, was published by Candlewick Press in 2005. That title was selected as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age and hailed by author Judy Blume: "It's rare and exciting to discover a talented new writer like Gigi Amateau." The Wall Street Journal called the book "an ambitious push into the young adult market."

She is also the author of A Certain Strain of Peculiar, a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, and Chancey of the Maury River, A William Allen White Masters list title for grades 3-5. Come August, Come Freedom, her first work of historical fiction, was selected by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as a Fall 2012 Okra Pick and chosen by Bank Street College as a Best Children’s Book of the Year. In 2012, Gigi received a Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts from Richmond magazine.

Gigi earned a Bachelor of Science degree in urban studies and planning from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and has worked in the health and human services sector for more than twenty years. Born in northeastern Mississippi in 1964, she was raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and lives with her husband and daughter in the city of Richmond. She loves reading about the Early Republic era in American history, riding horses in the mountains, gardening with native plants, birding, and watching VCU basketball (#letsgovcu).

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A few favorite photos

That’s me around 15 months old playing in my first snow in Oxford, Mississippi.

Back from fishing with Granddaddy. See that really big catfish? I caught that one. Okay, maybe I caught that fish; maybe Granddaddy caught it.

Meet Albert! He’s the inspiration for Chancey!

This is my beautiful grammy on my wedding day! She and my mom walked me down the aisle to Go Tell Aunt Rhody, played by my then nine year old daughter on her violin.

To contact Gigi send an e-mail to: info@gigiamateau.com