Rae Chalmers

Rae Chalmers grew up in the Bay Area of California reading HARRIET THE SPY and NANCY DREW mysteries. She and her best friend would bike through their neighborhood with notepads and pencils, jotting down license plates and clues for crimes that surely would be committed.

When she moved to Maine in the 1980s with her two young daughters, Rae felt like she had finally come home. Her first teaching job was in a two-room school on a small coastal island. Her students and their families lived the values that are embodied in the OXBOW ISLAND GANG series: resilience, generosity and valuing the contributions and unique talents of all community members. Since then, Rae has had the good fortune to live and work on many other Maine islands, with their woodsy interiors and crashing surf.

The OXBOW ISLAND GANG series is a celebration of the values and ecosystems of small island communities, a reminder of how we should treat each other and our natural environment.