Robbie Branscum

Robbie was born on a farm near Big Flat, Arkansas. Her father died when she was only four years old and she grew up with her poor grandparents on another farm. Branscum dropped out from school after the seventh grade. She continued to read books and write poetry and songs{{cite web |title= Robbie Branscum Papers |first=Nancy|last=Larsen |date=19 September 2023 |publisher=University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections |url=http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/CLRC-1224.xml}} citing {{cite book |title=Something about the author |volume=72 |pages=19–21}} and provided for her livelihood through work at dirt farms. At the age of 15 she married Dwane Branscum. She gave birth to a daughter and divorced at the age of 25.

Branscum's life took a major turn after the newsletter of her church, the Southern Baptist, printed an article she had written. Subsequently, she decided to become an author. Branscum's first book was Me and Jim Luke (1971).

Branscum published 20 books in 20 years time, though not one each year. Several of her books were translated into Danish, Italian, Japanese, and Swedish. Branscum worked with literary agent Barthold Fles,{{cite book|last=Branscum|first=Robbie|title=Cheater and Flitter Dick|url=https://archive.org/details/cheaterflitterdi0000bran|url-access=registration|publisher=Viking Press|year=1983|isbn=9780670213504 }} who described her as "the worst speller and best writer I have."{{cite news|title=Author Not Part of Jet-setting Crowd|newspaper=Blytheville Courier News|date=November 19, 1983|location=Blytheville, Arkansas|quote=Barthold Fles, Ms. Branscum's agent, said, "She's the worst speller and best writer I have." [...] Fles has never met the author who prefers to remain lost in the heartland. [...] Ms. Branscum plumbs childhood memories of Big Flat, Ark., for many of her characters.|page=3|via=Newspaperarchive.com|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/blytheville-courier-news-nov-19-1983-p-3/}}

In 1977, she won an Award of Merit from the Friends of American Writers for Toby, Granny and George and in 1983 an Edgar Award for The Murder of Hound Dog Bates.

She died from a heart attack in 1997 in her home in San Pablo, California.

• 1977 – Friends of American Writers Award of Merit for Toby, Granny and George
• 1979 – Best of the Best 1966–1978, School Library Journal, for Johnny May
• 1983 – Edgar Award, Category: Best Juvenile, for The Murder of Hound Dog Bates{{cite news|title=Robbie Tilley Branscum, 62, Children's Author|first=Wolfgang|last=Saxon|date=May 30, 1997|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/30/arts/robbie-tilley-branscum-62-children-s-author.html |access-date=August 1, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cite web |title=Search the Edgars Database! |publisher=Mystery Writers of America |url=http://theedgars.com/awards/}}

• 1971 – Me and Jim Luke
• 1975 – Three Wars of Billy Joe Treat
• 1976 – Johnny May
• 1977 – Toby, Granny and George
• 1978 – Three Buckets of Daylight (with Allen Davis)
• 1978 – To the Tune of a Hickory Stick
• 1978 – The Ugliest Boy
• 1979 – For Love of Jody (with Allen Davis)
• 1979 – The Saving of P.S.
• 1979 – Toby Alone
• 1981 – Toby and Johnny Joe
• 1982 – The Murder of Hound Dog Bates{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/30/books/books-of-the-times-064849.html?n=Top/Features/Books/Book%20Reviews | work=The New York Times| title=Books Of The Times | first=George A. | last=Woods | date=November 30, 1982 | accessdate=May 22, 2010}}
• 1983 – Cheater and Flitter Dick{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/23/books/children-s-books-229920.html?sec=&spon= | work=The New York Times| title=Children's Books | first1=Karla | last1=Kuskin | date=October 23, 1983 | accessdate=May 22, 2010}}
• 1983 – Spud Tackett
• 1984 – The Adventures of Johnnie May
• 1986 – The Girl{{cite book|title=Comics to Classics: A Guide to Books for Teens and Preteens|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1101161701|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KS2ir0VW7CYC&pg=PT124|chapter=Coming-of-Age|first=Arthea|last=Reed|year=1994|quote=The Girl, Robbie Branscum. 1986. This autobiographical novel depicts the struggles of growing up in poverty in the Arkansas hills. It realistically portrays sexual abuse and sibling courage.|pages=124–125|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9781101161708}}
• 1987 – Johnny May Grows Up
• 1989 – Cameo Rose
• 1991 – Old Blue Tilley
• 1991 – Never Pa's Girl

{{reflist}}

{{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}}

• [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=4190 Robbie Tilley Branscum] in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T4QNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L28DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5366,3477822 "Her Books for Children Told of Poor, Rural America"] by Wolfgang Saxon – Obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120191627/http://www.branscum.net/archives/2005/05/10_facts_about.html Five facts about Robbie Branscum] by Deborah Branscum on Branscum.net [archived]

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Category:1934 births

Category:1997 deaths

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:American children's writers

Category:American women novelists

Category:Baptists from Arkansas

Category:Baptist writers

Category:Farmworkers

Category:20th-century American farmers

Category:People from Baxter County, Arkansas

Category:Writers from Arkansas

Category:American women children's writers

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:Edgar Award winners

Category:People from San Pablo, California

Category:Writers from California

Category:20th-century Baptists