Adrienne Jones; Novelist Wrote for Young Adults

Adrienne Jones, 84, who wrote 15 novels for young adults, including the award-winning “Street Family.” Jones, a native of Atlanta, decided to become a writer after her second-grade teacher praised some of her verses and published them in the school paper. She grew up in Hollywood and Beverly Hills and studied fiction at UCLA and UC Irvine. Her first novel, “Thunderbird Pass,” was published in 1952 by J.B. Lippincott. She favored mature themes, often focusing on the struggles of teenagers to understand relationships with each other and with the adults in their lives. That focus was prominent in “Street Family,” published in 1987 and winner of the 1988 PEN Center USA West award for young adult fiction, and in “Long Time Passing,” a coming-of-age novel set during the turbulent 1960s. An environmentalist and longtime Sierra Club member, she spent her honeymoon in the 1930s climbing the difficult east face of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states, becoming the first woman to successfully complete its ascent and descent. On Feb. 22 at her home in Laguna Niguel of complications of pneumonia and cancer.