Age: 43
Born: Tippah County, Miss. She spent her early childhood and summers there but grew up in Mechanicsville.
Family: Lives in Richmond with her husband, Bubba Sanderson, and daughter, Judith
Education: Bachelor's degree in urban studies and planning from Virginia Commonwealth University
Résumé: Has worked in the city's nonprofit community for nearly 20 years, serving the elderly, homeless and people with AIDS. She now works 30 hours a week for SeniorNavigator, a statewide resource for seniors, family caregivers and adults with disabilities.
Books (all from Candlewick Press): "Claiming Georgia Tate" (2005), young adult; "Chancey of the Maury River" (June 2008); "Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out" (September 2008), Amateau and her daughter are two of 108 authors and illustrators featured; "A Certain Strain of Peculiar" (spring 2009), young adult fiction; "The Gift of Fragile Bones" (fall 2009 or spring 2010), illustrated chapter book.
How she met author Judy Blume: After Amateau spent six years writing the manuscript for "Claiming Georgia Tate," a friend asked to send it to a relative in Florida. He then passed it on to Blume, who called Amateau.
Blume on Amateau: "It is rare and exciting to discover a talented new writer like Gigi Amateau."