Betty Lou Baker

Betty Lou Baker (1928-1987) was an American writer of young adult literature, who specialized in historical novels about the Southwestern United States. "The best of her books display a remarkable sensitivity to and appreciation of Native peoples and cultures".

Life Betty Lou Baker was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1928, the daughter of Robert Weidler Baker and Mary Baker, née Wentling. She attended school in Orange, New Jersey. In 1947 she married Robert George Venturo.

Baker wrote her first novel, Little Runner of the Longhouse (1962), for her son, Christopher,

Works

Novels Little Runner of the Longhouse. New York: Harper, 1962. Illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The Sun's Promise. New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1962. Illustrated by Juliette Palmer Killer-Of-Death. New York: Harper, 1963. Illustrated by John Kaufmann. The Shaman's Last Raid. New York: Harper, 1963. Illustrated by Leonard Shortall. The Treasure of the Padres. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. Illustrated by Leonard Shortall. Walk the World's Rim. New York: Harper, 1965. The Blood of the Brave. New York: Harper, 1966. The Dunderhead War. New York: Harper, 1967. Do Not Annoy the Indians. New York: Macmillan, 1968. Illustrated by Harold Goodwin. And One Was a Wooden Indian. New York: Macmillan, 1970. A Stranger and Afraid. New York: Macmillan, 1972. The Big Push. New York: Coward, 1972. Illustrated by Bonnie Johnson. The Spirit is Willing. New York: Macmillan, 1974. Dupper. New York: Greenwillow, 1976. Illustrated by Chuck Eckart. The Great Desert Race. New York: Macmillan, 1980.

Non-fiction Settlers and Strangers: Native Americans of the Desert Southwest and History as They Saw It. 1977.