Vera Cleaver
Vera Cleaver, born Vera Fern Allen on January 6, 1919, in Virgil, South Dakota, was a prominent American author known for her contributions to children's literature. The fifth of nine children, she grew up in a financially struggling family, which motivated her passion for writing from a young age, supported by her grandfather, a newspaper publisher. After working as an accountant, she married Bill Cleaver, a U.S. Air Force sergeant, and together they embarked on a self-taught journey in writing and publishing. Throughout their careers, they penned over two hundred stories for pulp magazines and women's magazines, gaining recognition for their sensitive portrayal of children's experiences.
Vera's first solo book, "The Nurse's Dilemma," was published in 1966, and she collaborated with her husband on seventeen adolescent novels that explored relatable challenges faced by young people. After Bill's passing in 1981, Vera continued to write, publishing her last book, "Belle Pruitt," in 1988. Her works, notably "Where the Lilies Bloom," which received a Newbery Honor and was adapted into a feature film, are celebrated for their warmth, humor, and moral insights, addressing the realities of growing up with empathy and understanding. Vera Cleaver passed away on August 11, 1992, leaving behind a legacy of impactful literature for children.
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Subject Terms
Vera Cleaver
Writer
- Born: January 6, 1919
- Birthplace: Virgil, South Dakota
- Died: August 11, 1992
- Place of death: Winter Haven, Florida
Biography
Vera Fern Allen was born on January 6, 1919, in Virgil, South Dakota, the fifth of nine children. Her parents were Fortis Alonzo Allen and Beryl Naiome Reininger Allen. From an early age she was an avid reader, and her grandfather, a newspaper publisher, encouraged her writing career from the time she was six. The family was not well-off, and the Great Depression made life harder, so they moved frequently. Vera attended schools in Kennebeck, South Dakota, and then in Perry and Tallahassee, Florida. After two years of business school she worked as an accountant. In 1945 she married Bill Cleaver, a sergeant in the United States Air Force whom she had met during World War II.
Bill’s career gave them opportunities for travel. Vera served as a civilian accountant for the Air Force in Tachikawa, Japan, from 1954 to 1956, and in Chaumont, France, from 1956 to 1958. Meanwhile, the couple taught themselves all they could about writing and publishing by visiting public libraries, as they were unable to afford college or creative writing courses. They published more than two hundred stories, many of them about children, in pulp magazines.
As their skills improved, they also wrote short fiction for women’s magazines, including Woman’s Day and McCall’s. In 1966, Cleaver published her first book, an adult romance novel titled The Nurse’s Dilemma. Between 1967 and 1983 the couple wrote seventeen adolescent novels together, publishing them under both names. Typically, Bill would generate the initial ideas and do the research to support them, and Vera would do the actual writing. Their novels were for and about children, exploring realistic situations with a sensitivity that earned them both critical and popular success.
Both authors had led impoverished childhoods, and they drew upon their own experiences in their depictions of the struggles families face. After Bill’s death in 1981, Vera Cleaver published four more children’s books on her own, ending with Belle Pruitt in 1988. She died in Winter Haven, Florida, on August 11, 1992, after a long illness.
The Cleavers’s novels are recognized for their portraits of young people facing real but not overwhelming challenges, combining humor and warmth with a strong moral vision. Two of the Cleavers’s books were honored by Horn Book and four were nominated for the National Book Award. Me Too (1973) was named an American Library Association Notable Book; Where the Lilies Bloom (1969) was a Newbery Honor Book and a nominee for the National Book Award. In 1974, Where the Lilies Bloom was made into a feature film, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.