I was sorry to hear about Lois Duncan's death yesterday. Lois had been writing for young people for a long time--her first novel, Debutante Hill, was published in 1958 (and republished in 2013 by Lizzie Skurnick Books). She is someone whose work I always point towards as a reminder that YA fiction did not begin with The Outsiders. My favorite Duncan YA--read when I actually was a YA--is Ransom, first published in 1966, retitled Five Were Missing for paperback when I read it in 1972, and now available as an e-book from Open Road, who, hilariously, have tossed in a couple of references to cell phones to make the book seem new, although other references to the "swarthy" bad guy remind us that the book was written fifty years ago. It's still great.

I interviewed Duncan for SLJ  on the occasion of her winning the Margaret Edwards Award in 1992. It begins as a lively enough discussion of her career then moves into X-Files territory by the end. Maybe she has some answers now.

[Edited to add PW's excellent obituary.