Grace May North (Monfort) (February 1, 1876 – July 23, 1960) was an American newspaper journalist and author of novels for children and adolescents, stories which featured both girl and boy protagonists. She wrote primarily under her birth/'maiden' name Grace May North although some of her later novels were also republished under the pen-name Carol Norton.

Grace May North
Born(1876-02-01)February 1, 1876
Utica, New York, U.S.
DiedJuly 23, 1960(1960-07-23) (aged 84)
San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author

Biography

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Grace May North was born in Utica, New York on February 1, 1876. During her career she is known to have worked as a newspaper journalist. She resided in New York City, where she worked at the Webster Branch of the New York Public Library from 1910 to 1915. Her duties included running a story telling club for girls, and doing story telling in schools and institutions.[1] She moved west to Nevada, residing in Carson City. Subsequently she moved to Santa Barbara, California. Grace died in San Luis Obispo, California on July 23, 1960.

Career

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North wrote most of her novels from ca. 1918 to ca. 1935. She produced two series of novels for adolescent girls (roughly 1919-1924), and went on to write a number of individual novels, also for girls. Many of the later were also subsequently republished under the pen-name Carol Norton. In addition to her female-themed young-adult works she was also the author of, among others, three books in the X Bar X Boys series for adolescent boys and the Southwestern Stories for Children series for younger children (unpublished).[2][3]

Works

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Adele Doring series

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  • Adele Doring of the Sunnyside Club (1919; Adele Doring, #1)
  • Adele Doring on a Ranch (1920; Adele Doring, #2)
  • Adele Doring at Boarding-School (1921; Adele Doring, #3)
  • Adele Doring in Camp (1922; Adele Doring, #4)
  • Adele Doring at Vineyard Valley (1923; Adele Doring, #5)

Virginia Davis series

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  • Virginia at Vine Haven (1924)
  • Virginia's Adventure Club (1924)
  • Virginia of V.M. Ranch (1924)
  • Virginia's Ranch Neighbors (1924)
  • Virginia's Romance (1924)

Individual books

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  • The Bylow Squirrel Boys (1915;Bedtime Rhymes)
  • Meg of Mystery Mountain (1926)
  • Nan of the Gypsies (1926)
  • Rilla of the Lighthouse (1926)
  • Bobs, a girl detective (1928)
  • Sisters (1928);
  • The Seven Sleuths’ Club (1928)
  • The Phantom Yacht (1928)
  • The Phantom Town Mystery (reprinted? 1933)
  • Dixie Martin, The Girl of Woodford's Cañon (1924)
  • The X Bar X Boys at the Strange Rodeo (1935; X Bar X Boys #14)
  • The X Bar X Boys Hunting the Prize Mustangs (1937; X Bar X Boys #16)
  • The X Bar X Boys at Triangle Mine (1938; X Bar X Boys #17)

Family

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Grace was the daughter of Eugene Northrup and Adele N. Harrington.[1][4]

She married widower William Nelson Monfort in Santa Barbara on August 3, 1923.[4]

One of her step-sons, Donald L. Monfort, was killed in World War II.

Her other step-son, Gordon W. Monfort, died in Fresno in 1985.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Detwiler, Justice C. (editor), Who's Who in California: A Biographical Directory 1928-29. San Francisco: Who's Who Publishing, 1929, page 306.
  2. ^ "Carol Norton". LibraryThing.com. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Grace May North". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b California State Library; Sacramento, California; Biographical Files.
  5. ^ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VG15-RJD : 26 November 2014), Gordon W Monfort, 16 Aug 1985; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
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