Popular Children's Author With Short Hills Roots Dies At 89: Barbara Girion

MILLBURN, NJ — The following obituary comes courtesy of a Patch Millburn reader. Find out how to post announcements to your local Patch site.

Barbara Girion, a writer whose candid novels helped shape the rise of contemporary realism in young adult literature, died Nov. 1, 2026. She was 89.

Subscribe

Girion was a longtime New Jersey resident with her beloved husband of 57 years, Heywood, who died in 2014. She spent her later years in Beverly Hills, California, near her children and grandchildren.

She emerged as a writer in the 1970s, a revolutionary time for children's literature. Her breakthrough novel, "A Tangle of Roots" (1976), took teens into the seldom discussed world of grief through the eyes of a high school girl coping with the sudden death of her mother.

Praised by literary critics for its psychological acuity, "A Tangle of Roots" was selected as an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and won a Kenneth Smilen Present Tense book award. It also was recognized for its authentic exploration of Jewish traditions and family life, themes Girion would return to often.

Inspired by the brave struggle of someone close to her, Girion took on the stigma of epilepsy in "A Handful of Stars" (1981), the story of a high school girl whose life is suddenly upended when she must face the condition.

The novel won accolades and drew new attention to epilepsy, and Girion used that interest to advocate for greater understanding. She spoke to parent and professional groups and testified before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on behalf of the Epilepsy Foundation of America.

"Joshua, the Czar, and the Chicken Bone Wish" (1978), a coming-of-age tale, was nominated for the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award and Missouri's Mark Twain Readers Award. Ever popular was "Misty and Me" (1979), featuring a girl who pines for a pet dog, which earned nominations from the Iowa Children's Choice Award, the Colorado Children's Book Award and Hawaii's Nēnē Award.

In "Like Everybody Else" (1980), Girion mines the sting of social embarrassment felt by a suburban seventh grader when her mother's racy novel becomes an unexpected bestseller.

Girion's working manuscripts, galley proofs, literary correspondence and other papers are archived in the Rutgers University Collection of Children's Literature in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Girion lectured at a Hofstra University creative writing conference and was passionate about inspiring young writers. She spoke at school assemblies and workshops across the United States, regaling thousands of students with tales of her own writing journey. A favorite anecdote featured her "crying closet," where, after early rejections, she recovered the will to write again.

Girion's passion to inspire young writers was matched by their admiration. The mailbox at her Short Hills, New Jersey home teemed with as many as 300 letters a month from students she sparked to believe they could write their own stories.

"Thank you for not giving up when you got the rejection letters," wrote one. "Because of you, I might even become an author, and if I did, I would follow your inspiration."

Girion is survived by son Jeff Girion and wife Lisa, of Long Beach, California; son Eric Girion, of Hoboken, New Jersey; daughter Laurie Girion and husband Peter Skuts, of Los Angeles, California; and granddaughters Schuyler Girion, Avery Girion and Layla Skuts, all of Los Angeles.

Funeral services for Girion will be held 11 am Sunday, Nov. 8, at Eden Memorial Chapel, 327 Main Street, Fort Lee, NJ. Interment will follow at Riverside Cemetery, 12 Market Street, Saddle Brook, NJ.

Please consider donations in her honor to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund, or Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com