"I wrote this book because the fact of being born female in America matters, and it always has."

Born in Denver, Colorado, Penny Colman also lived in Oregon, Washington and Kentucky before her parents settled in North Warren, a small town in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. Her father was a psychiatrist with a position at the state hospital. She lived on the grounds of the mental hospital along with her father, her mother, an artist, and three brothers. Some patients were confined behind locked doors. Other patients were free to walk around the grounds. One patient played ball with Penny and her brothers. When Penny was eleven years old, a writer and photographer came to do an article titled, "The Strangest Place to Find a Happy Family" that was published in Redbook Magazine. The summer Penny graduated from high school, her parents had another child, her sister Cam. A picture of Cam appears in Girls: A History of Growing Up Female in America.

After two years of college, Penny decided to hitchhike through Europe. When she returned home, she finished college, went to graduate school, got married, and had three children (two were twins) all within four years. For the next seventeen years, Penny Colman threw herself into being an active mom, minister's wife, volunteer, on-and-off writer, teacher, consultant, project manager, and art gallery owner. Finally, she decided to be a full-time writer, and on October 1, 1987, she embarked on this challenging and exciting career. She writes for readers of all ages on a wide variety of topics. She is noted for her picture research and photography.

In 1990, Penny Colman began immersing herself in learning about the lives of ordinary and extraordinary women. She wrote eight books about women, including Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II, Madam C.J. Walker: Building a Business Empire, A Woman Unafraid: The Achievements of Frances Perkins, and Spies: Women in the Civil War. Wherever she can Penny Colman takes pictures and buys books, new and used. In 1995, on a cross-country car trip, she filled her car with books. Among these were primary source materials for her ninth book about women, Girls: A History of Growing Up Female in America, including the diary of a young girl named Caroline Richards. Colman selected voices that she could weave together to tell the compelling story of growing up female in this country. Included are girls and women from different racial, geographic and socioeconomic perspectives. Each persons account adds historic fact, fascinating detail, dramatic incidents and poignant memories.

Penny Colman has received numerous awards for her books, including the Orbis Pictus Honor Award for Outstanding Nonfiction. Her titles have been named Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Notable Children's Books, and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, as well as IRA Teachers' Choices and Young Adult Choices. The women of the New Jersey state legislature have honored Colman for her books and public appearances that have "contributed to the advancement of women." A popular speaker, Penny Colman presents at many schools and conferences every year.

Booklists/Awards

Nonfiction:
Girls: A History of Growing Up Female in America, 2000