| Deb Vanasse | |
| Birth Name: | Debra Lynn Lehmann |
| Birth Date: | 12 September 1957 |
| Birth Place: | St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Citizenship: | American |
| Education: | |
| Occupation: | Writer |
Deb Vanasse (born September 12, 1957) is an American writer of more than a dozen books, many of which are set in Alaska. Her children's books include six picture books and two young adult novels. She and young-adult novelist Gail Giles are the co-authors of No Returns, Book One in a planned series, the Battleband Saga. Her books for adults include Cold Spell and a forthcoming biography of the Klondike gold rush figure Kate Carmack.[1] She has also authored three travel guides on Alaska, one under a pseudonym, and she has edited a collection of historic photographs.
Vanasse was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.[2] Her maiden name is Debra Lynn Lehmann; her brother is the writer Chris Lehmann. She lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Galesburg, Illinois; and Madison, Wisconsin before moving to Iowa, where she graduated from Davenport West High School. She attended Washington University in St. Louis and graduated with a Bachelor in Science from Bemidji State University in Minnesota and a Masters in the Humanities from California State University Dominguez Hills.
Vanasse's debut novel for young adults, A Distant Enemy,[3] was a Junior Literary Guild selection and is featured in Best Books for Young Teen Readers, Grades 7 to 10,[4] as was her second novel Out of the Wilderness.[5] Her picture book titles include Under Alaska's Midnight Sun (illustrated by Jeremiah Tramell);[6] [7] Alaska Animal Babies (photographs by Gavriel Jecan); Totem Tale (illustrated by Erik Brooks);[8] and Amazing Alaska (illustrated by Karen E. Lewis). Set in a Yup'ik village, there is also a Yup'ik language edition of Lucy's Dance, illustrated by Nancy Slagle.[9]
Black Wolf of the Glacier, also illustrated by Nancy Slagle, is based on the true story of Romeo, a well-known wolf that lived near Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska.[10] No Returns, Book One of the Battleband Saga, is Vanasse’s first co-authored novel with Gail Giles. Cold Spell, her first work of literary fiction for adults, is part of the University of Alaska Press Alaska Literary Series.[11] Vanasse and another writer, Andromeda Romano-Lax, founded the 49 Alaska Writing Center.[12]
She lives on Hiland Mountain in Eagle River, Alaska, with her husband and dog.
| Picture Books | |
|---|---|
| 1. Under Alaska’s Midnight Sun (March 1, 2005) | |
| 2. Alaska Animal Babies (March 1, 2005) | |
| 3. Totem Tale (Feb. 7, 2006) | |
| 4. Amazing Alaska (March 2, 2010) | |
| 5. Lucy’s Dance (June 15, 2011) | |
| 6. Black Wolf of the Glacier (March 15, 2013) |
| Novels | |
|---|---|
| 1. A Distant Enemy (Jan. 10, 2014) | |
| 2. Out of the Wilderness (June 13, 2013) | |
| 3. No Returns (Feb. 12, 2014) | |
| 4. Cold Spell (2014) |
| Nonfiction | |
|---|---|
| 1. Picture This, Alaska (Jan. 27, 2009) | |
| 2. Wealth Woman: Kate Carmack and the Last Great Race for Gold (2014) |