Jennifer Rozines Roy, B.S.’89
Second-Career Success
By Amy Halloran, B.A.’90
ennifer Rozines Roy didn’t plan to be a writer, but her second career has taken the Colonie, N.Y., native to great heights. The former elementary instructor, who studied psychology at UAlbany, began writing for an educational publisher while recovering from an illness. Her 2006 book Yellow Star (Marshall Cavendish), a work of historical fiction for young adult readers, won many awards, including the prestigious Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award. Written in free verse, the book gives voice to Roy’s aunt Sylvia (Syvia), who was one of the 12 children to survive the Lodz, Poland, ghetto during the Nazi occupation. The book, which has led Roy to speaking engagements at schools, synagogues and other venues, is now part of the curriculum for many middle school students studying the Holocaust. Yellow Star is also a huge crossover success, spreading into the adult reading market.
This is but one of Roy’s 35 titles, which range from math series to single-subject history books. One of her most exciting projects is Trading Faces (Simon & Schuster), the series she and her sister, Julia DeVillers, write for tweens. In the first book series written by identical twins about identical twins, the sisters write alternating chapters about fashionista Payton and mathlete Emma. Book 3 in the series, Times Squared, comes out in January 2011.
MindBlind, new to bookstores this fall, will introduce readers to 14-year-old Nathaniel, who is profoundly gifted and has Asperger Syndrome. More information on Roy’s books can be found on amazon.com.
Daniel Guyton, B.A.’00, has written a new play, Death of a Snowman, which was published by theatrical giants Heuer Publishing in June 2010. Death of a Snowman is the story of a young girl and her snowman discussing life and the afterlife in an existential comic fantasy. Guyton’s play Georgie Gets a Facelift was produced simultaneously in two different cities this summer – one at the Festival of Independent Theatres in Dallas, Texas, and the other at the Third Eye Theatre in Portland, Ore. Georgie also appeared in Nebraska, Georgia and New York.
