Barbara Eckholdt Johnstone

Combining her interest in writing with experiences she gleaned from her years as an educator, Barbara Eckholdt Johnstone has created her debut middle grade novel, Cemetery Ridge. Like her book’s protagonist, Johnstone grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, moving with her family to Toledo, Ohio as a teenager. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Kent State University, spending a winter quarter program in Mexico. Johnstone continued her studies in graduate school at the University of Toledo and earned two Masters of Arts Degrees in special education from Eastern Michigan. During her career, she taught at the elementary and high school levels in Ohio and Michigan and was the recipient of an outstanding merit award from the Michigan Education Association’s Showcasing Public Schools. She is a member of the Grove City Writers’ Group and the Ohio: Central & South Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Johnstone and her husband, Gerry, live in Grove City, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.