# Sandra Fenichel Asher

Sandra Fenichel Asher is an American author and playwright, known most notably for her contributions to the fields of children's theater and literature. She has written over 30 novels and stories, but is most well known for her plays such as A Woman Called Truth and In the Garden of the Selfish Giant.

## Education

Asher attended Indiana University Bloomington where she completed a B.A. in English with a minor in Theatre in 1964. In 1974 she received her Elementary Education Certification from Drury University.

## Novels and stories
### Young adult novels

| Title | Publication Year | Notes |
| Summer Begins | 1980 | Later in paperback as Summer Smith Begins. |
| Daughters of the Law | 1980 | |
| Just Like Jenny | 1982 | Junior Library Guild Selection (1982), Mark Twain Award Master List (1984) |
| Things Are Seldom What They Seem | 1983 | Junior Library Guild Selection (1983), Iowa Teen Award Master List (1987), Young Hoosier Award Master List (1987) |
| Missing Pieces | 1984 | |
| Everything is Not Enough | 1987 | Junior Library Guild Selection (1987) |
| Out of Here: A Senior Class Yearbook | 1993 | YA Read-Alouds Too Good to Miss, Indiana (1996) |

### Beginning Reader Series: Ballet One

| Title | Publication Year |
| Best Friends Get Better | 1989 |
| Pat's Promise | 1990 |
| Mary in the Middle | 1990 |
| Can David Do It? | 1991 |

### Chapter books

| Title | Publication Year |
| Teddy Teabury's Fabulous Fact | 1985 |
| Teddy Teabury's Peanutty Problems | 1989 |

### Children's picture books

| Title | Publication Year | Notes |
| Princess Bee and the Royal Goodnight Story | 1989 | Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. |
| Stella's Dancing Days | 2001 | Illustrated by Kathryn Brown. |
| Why Rabbit's Nose Twitches | 2004 | Illustrated by Allan Eitzen. |
| Too Many Frogs! | 2005 | Illustrated by Keith Graves. New York Library Association "Best of Season" Master List (2005), Florida Reading Association Children's Book Award Honor Book (2006), Keystone State Reading Association Keystone to Reading Master List (2006), North Dakota Flicker Tale Award (2006), South Carolina School Library Book Award Master List (2006), Texas Library Association 2x2 List (2006), Montana Treasure State Book Award Master List (2007), Wyoming Buckaroo Award Master List (2007), Georgia Picture Story Book Award Master List (2008), South Dakota Librarians' 100 Best Books for Children List (2008) |
| What a Party! | 2007 | Illustrated by Keith Graves. |
| Here Comes Gosling! | 2009 | Illustrated by Keith Graves. |

### Books for writers

| Title | Publication Year |
| Where Do You Get Your Ideas? | 1987 |
| Wild Words: How to Train Them to Tell Stories | 1989 |
| Writing It Right: How Successful Children's Authors Revise and Sell their Stories | 2009 |

### Non-fiction books

| Title | Publication Year |
| The Great American Peanut Book | 1997 |
| Discovering Cultures: China | 2002 |
| Discovering Cultures: Mexico | 2002 |

## Plays

| Title | Publication Year | Publisher | Notes |
| Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes | 1989 | Dramatic Publishing Company | ATA Senior Citizens Project New Plays List (1982), Ellis Memorial Award Finalist, Theatre Americana (1987), Maxwell Anderson Playwriting Series: Best Play of New Season (1986) |
| The Wise Men of Chelin | 1992 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| A Woman Called Truth | 1993 | Dramatic Publishing Company | National Playwrights' Showcase, First Prize (1987), Bonderman Award (1989), Joseph Campbell Memorial Award (1992), AATE Distinguished Play Award (1994) |
| Dancing With Strangers | 1994 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| Sunday, Sunday | 1994 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Little Theatre of Alexandria One Act Play Contest, First Prize (1983), Street Players Theatre Contest, First Prize (1989), Actors' Guild of Lexington New Play Festival Winner (1992) |
| Once, in the Time of Trolls | 1995 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Children's Musical Theatre of Mobile Contest, First Prize (1984), Dubuque Fine Arts Players Contest, First Prize (1984), East Central College Contest, First Prize (1993) |
| Emma | 1997 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Adapted from the Jane Austen novel of the same name. |
| I Will Sing Life: Voices from the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp | 2000 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Adapted from the Larry Berger and Dahlia Lithwick book of the same name. |
| Little Women: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy | 2001 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Adapted from the Louisa May Alcott novel of the same name. |
| Blackbirds and Dragons, Mermaids and Mice | 2003 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| Waiting for Bobo | 2004 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| In the Garden of the Selfish Giant | 2004 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Bonderman Award (2001), New England Theatre Conference Aurand Harris Award (2003), AATE Distinguished Play Award (2004) |
| Romeo and Juliet - Together (and Alive!) at Last | 2004 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Adapted from the Avi novel of the same name. |
| Somebody Catch My Homework | 2004 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Inspired by the poetry of David L. Harrison. |
| We Will Remember: A Tribute to Veterans | 2005 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| Everything Is Not Enough | 2006 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Adapted from her own book of the same name. |
| Today I Am: Five Short Plays About Growing Up Jewish | 2006 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| Too Many Frogs! | 2007 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Adapted from her own book of the same name. |
| Family Matters | 2008 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| To Life! Growing Up Jewish In America | 2008 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| Keeping Mr. Lincoln | 2009 | Dramatic Publishing Company | |
| Jesse and Grace: A Best Friends Story | 2010 | Dramatic Publishing Company | Based on poems by David L. Harrison. |
| The Ballad of Two Who Flew | 1976 | Plays Magazine | |
| Witling and the Stone Princess | 1979 | Plays Magazine | |
| The Golden Cow of Chelm | 1980 | Plays Magazine | |
| Who Will Bell the Cat? | 1992 | Scott Foresman Text | |
| The Wolf and Its Shadows | 1998 | Anchorage Press Plays | AATE Unpublished Play Reading Project Winner (1994), Bonderman Award (1995) |

## Critical reception

A Woman Called Truth, a play based on the life of Sojourner Truth, is perhaps Asher's most recognized stage-play. The New York Times called it a "smart, strong play", stating that it "is bound to make young viewers believe that changes are indeed possible".