Cynthia Furlong Reynolds | Biography
Award-winning writer Cynthia Furlong Reynolds knew at an early age that her calling was to help people tell their stories—an adventure she writes about in Grammie’s Secret Cupboard (2008 Mom’s Choice Award) and in her Young Adult novel Across the Reach.
A journalist whose byline has appeared in more than 50 newspapers and magazines, she has written six histories (Our Hometown: America’s History Seen Through the Eyes of a Midwestern Village and JIFFY: A Family Tradition both received Michigan Notable Book Awards), a dozen picture books (H is for Hoosier: An Indiana Alphabet won a Young Hoosier Book Award, 2004), a series of early readers based upon a mouse’s adventures (Oliver’s Travels), a young adult novel, countless articles, and dozens of life stories for private individuals.
Ms. Reynolds frequently visits schools to talk to students of all ages about the writing and publishing process. She leads professional development programs on writing. 
Every year she undertakes a corporate history, and she helps individuals tell their own stories. Recently she decided to return to school herself; she is working on two Maine-based novels as part of the Stonecoast MFA program in creative writing.
An 11th-generation native of Maine, Ms. Reynolds lives with three children, two dogs and one husband in the country outside Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Her works in progress include:
Oliver’s Travels: Early Readers. A mouse on a mission undergoes a series of adventures as he discovers his country’s special places, people, and stories. He began his wanderings in Ohio, and since has moved on to Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Dear Ginny: An epistolary novel based on a collection of letters written by servicemen to a college coed in Maine during World War II. A picture of war on the homefront and on the battlefields.
A Village At War: Non-fiction. A collection of WWII memoirs by residents of a small Midwestern village; their experiences span the globe, from Europe to China, India, Africa, the Pacific, and the homefront. Meanwhile, the village they left behind quadrupled its population as workers scrambled to build airplanes, construct bombs, mill grains, and provide food for the war effort.
War Comes To Deer Isle: Novel. An octogenarian remembers the traumas and romances her island experienced during the Civil War.
The War To End All Wars: Young Adult novel based on a World War I diary kept by a teenage Midwestern soldier fighting on the battlefields of Europe and the memories of a man who was a child during the war.
An American Fairy Tale: Children’s picture book based on people in American history.
Writing S’mores: A Guide To Teaching Everyone How To Write Everything. Based on the author’s work with students of all ages in classrooms, seminars, and workshops.
Children’s Books:
L is for Lobster: A Maine Alphabet
Fishing for Numbers: A Maine Counting Book
M is for Maple Syrup: A Vermont Alphabet
H is for Hoosier: An Indiana Alphabet (Young Hoosier Book Award)
S is for Star: A Christmas Alphabet
Grammie’s Secret Cupboard (2008 Mom’s Choice Award)
The Far-Flung Adventures of Homer the Hummer
Rascal Makes Mischief
OLIVER’S TRAVELS: Adventures in Ohio
OLIVER’S TRAVELS: Indiana Adventures
Corporate histories:
OUR HOMETOWN: America’s History Seen Through The Eyes of a Midwestern Village (Michigan Notable Book Award, 2001)
Down the Rivers and Across the Big Waters: A History of the Pulp & Paper Industry in Michigan, Wisconsin & Minnesota
JIFFY: A Family Tradition: The Chelsea Milling Company (Michigan Notable Book Award, 2008)
A Fierce Commitment: The First Five Years of Washtenaw Community College
Metroparks for the People: A History of the Huron-Clinton Metropark System
