Dandi won her first writing contest as a 10-year-old tomboy. Her 50 words on “Why I Want to Be Batboy for the Kansas City A’s” won first place, but the team wouldn’t let a girl be batboy. It was her first taste of rejection.
Since then, Dandi Daley Mackall has become an award-winning author of over 500 books for readers of all ages. She’s written for most major publishers, as well as a few books for Warner Brothers, Hannah Barbera, and Disney. Dandi thanks God for letting her have the joy of writing books to touch the hearts of readers. It’s such a privilege, filled with grace, that she still can’t believe she’s a writer. “All good things come from our Heavenly Father.” With that in mind, here are a few award highlights:
- The Silence of Murder won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery. Dandi’s “acceptance speech” began with: “Holy Cow! You’ve got to be kidding.” The book also won ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults.
- Legend of Ohio (an oral Native American story graciously given to her by the Algonquin “Keeper of Old Things,”) won a Notable Book award.
- Rudy Rides the Rails: A Depression Era Story and firsthand account of “Ramblin’ Rudy, King of the Hoboes,” won Notable Book awards – Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People; National Council of Social Studies & Children’s Book Council; the Angel Award, Winner of the “Award of Excellence” from Chicago Book Show.
- A Girl Named Dan (Dandi’s own “batboy/batgirl” story, and a lesson on Title IX, won a Mom’s Choice Award & the Amelia Bloom Award. When the Kansas City Royals read the picture book about Dandi’s sad rejection because she was a girl (who signed the contest entry “Dan,” rather than “Dandi,”), they flew her to Kansas City to be batgirl for a night—a much happier ending.
- Eva Underground, her YA/Adult historical novel, is based on the author’s experiences as a missionary behind the Iron Curtain in communist, Russia-controlled Poland. EVA was nominated ALA Best Book, starred Kirkus review, awarded a Top Teen Read by New York Public Library, and a finalist for Ohioana Award.
- Larger-than-Life Lara, a middle-grade novel from Dutton/Penguin, which teaches how to write, while tackling the problem of bullying, was a “Teacher’s Choice” book. LARA made it on many state reading lists, like KY Bluegrass Award, William Allan White Award, KS and KY Children’s Choice lists, and the Delaware Diamond Top 5 list.
- Winnie the Horse Gentler series has been a bestseller for about 25 years, making it a classic and spawning: Winnie: The Early Years series; 2 Winnie Journal Devotionals; and a spinoff:
- Starlight Animal Rescue, a Gold Medallion finalist.
- My Boyfriends’ Dogs (now a Hallmark movie, “most watched” 2014), gained national attention, and Dandi got to attend the filming in Vancouver. (If you don’t blink, you can see her sitting on a park bench in one scene.)
- The Secrets of Tree Taylor, her Knopf/Random House middle-grade novel, earned glowing reviews in School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, Voya, teensreadtoo, Kirkus, etc.
- With Love Wherever You Are is Dandi’s heart novel, based on the true story of her parents in WWII. Army Dr. Captain Frank Daley and Lt. Nurse Helen Eberhart (Daley) met in basic training, married a couple of weeks later, then spent the rest of the war in different countries, caring for the wounded and writing letters to keep their marriage alive. They left Dandi over-600 letters in an Army trunk, a treasure she used to understand her newly-wedded parents and to write the book. Starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, etc. Winner of the Faith, Hope, Love Reader’s Choice Award.
Numerous board books and picture books have been awarded Children’s Choice awards, several Christian Book Awards and Gold Medallions, Reader’s Choice Awards. Dandi is winner of the Helen Keating Ott Award for Contributions to Children’s Literature and the Distinguished Alum Award from University of Missouri. Dandi is a national speaker, keynoting at conferences and Young Author events, and has made dozens of appearances on TV, including ABC, NBC, and CBS.
Having grown up in rural Missouri, Dandi now lives in rural Ohio, with her author husband, Joe, their children, grandchildren, and other family members: horses, dogs, cats, turtle, tortoise, deer, raccoons, squirrels, and many more.