The daughter of a retired federal court clerk and a homemaker with many part-time jobs, including stable hand, Schlitz has been a local girl all her life. She is single and lives in the Loch Hill section of Baltimore County. Schlitz is no taller than many of her students, but her most striking feature is her nearly waist-length silver hair, which curls around her shoulders like mist.
Yesterday's announcement culminates a momentous period in Schlitz's life that began in 2006 when four children's novels were accepted for publication by the Boston-based Candlewick Press. Her previous three books are A Drowned Maiden's Hair, The Hero Schliemann and The Bearskinner.
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! was the third to be published, though it was the first to be accepted.
An editorial assistant plucked the monologues from the "slush pile" of unsolicited manuscripts and brought it to the attention of Candlewick editor Mary Lee Donovan. She called it "the most exciting submission that I've had in my 23-year career."
Almost immediately Donovan knew she had something special. The nimble writing. The vivid characters. The meticulous research. And, above all else, a story that children would find irresistible.
"It's one of those fairy tale stories that people love to know happen every now and then," she said.
"My heart definitely beat faster. I was overwhelmed by the clear talent. It was almost a perfect manuscript."
For a writer, one of the nicest aspects of winning a Newbery is that your book will always be available in bookstores alongside other Newbery winners, including such acknowledged classics as Dr. Dolittle and A Wrinkle in Time.
But as exciting as that is for Schlitz, she is trying hard to keep her priorities straight. And the fifth-grade class was due in the library at any moment.
"My head is full of the champagne bubbles of happiness," Schlitz said, "but I have a story to tell in five minutes."
mary.mccauley@baltsun.com jill.rosen@baltsun.com
Laura Amy Schlitz
Age: 52
Born: Baltimore
Personal: Single; no children
Lives: Loch Hill section of Baltimore County
Current achievement: Winner of the 2008 John Newbery award Occupation: Novelist and playwright; Park School librarian and storyteller
Education: Goucher College, bachelor of arts in aesthetics, 1977
Publications: Four children's books published by Candlewick Press in 2006 and 2007. A romance novel for adults, A Gypsy at Almack's, was published in 1994 under the pseudonym Chloe Cheshire.
Plays: Eight or nine, by Schlitz's count. Her scripts have been produced at Stage One in Louisville, Ky., and by at least two Baltimore troupes: Pumpkin Theatre and the Children's Theatre Association.
