Louise Erdrich is an American author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American characters and settings. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, a federally recognized tribe of the Anishinaabe.
Elizabeth George Speare was an American writer of children's books, best known for historical novels including two Newbery Medal winners. She has been called one of America's 100 most popular writers for children and some of her work has become mandatory reading in many schools throughout the nation. Indeed, because her books have sold so well she is also cited as one of the Educational Paperback Association's top 100 authors.
Scott O'Dell was an American author of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several children's novels about historical California and Mexico. For his contribution as a children's writer he received the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1972, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. He received The University of Southern Mississippi Medallion in 1976 and the Catholic Libraries Association Regina Medal in 1978.
Paul Fleischman is an American writer of children's books. He and his father Sid Fleischman have both won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". For the body of his work he was the United States author nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2012.
The King's Fifth (1966) is a children's historical novel by Scott O'Dell that was the inspiration for the cartoon TV series The Mysterious Cities of Gold. It describes, from the point of view of a teenage Spanish Conquistador, how the European search for gold in the New World of the Americas affected people's lives and minds. The title refers to the one fifth share of spoils expected by the Spanish Crown.
The Sign of the Beaver is a children's historical novel by American author Elizabeth George Speare, which has won numerous literary awards. It was published in February 1983, and has become one of her most popular works.
Jack Gantos is an American author of children's books. He is best known for the fictional characters Rotten Ralph and Joey Pigza. Rotten Ralph is a cat who stars in twenty picture books written by Gantos and illustrated by Nicole Rubel from 1976 to 2014. Joey Pigza is a boy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), featured in five novels from 1998 to 2014.
Bull Run is a historical novel for children by Paul Fleischman, published in 1993. It consists of sixteen monologues by participants in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861. The novel has won several awards.
Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is currently the only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) back-to-back. A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
A Talent for War is a science fiction mystery novel by American writer Jack McDevitt, the story of a search by Alex Benedict, the protagonist, to discover the nature of a mysterious project Alex's uncle had been working on when the interstellar passenger ship, on which his uncle was a passenger, was lost in space. This investigation leads deep into the history of a war between human civilization and a neighboring alien civilization and challenges the foundation mythos of the current human government.
The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is an annual American children's book award that recognizes historical fiction. It was established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell, author of Island of the Blue Dolphins and 25 other children's books, in hopes of increasing young readers' interest in the history that shaped their nation and their world. Eligibility for the award requires that a book be written in English for children or young adults, published by an American publisher, and the author must be a United States citizen. The award is recognized in the United States by publishers of children's literature and young adult literature, the American Library Association, and the Assembly for Literature of Adolescents.
The Fighting Ground is a 1984 historical young-adult novel written by Edward Irving Wortis, under his pen name, Avi. The book is about the disillusioning experience of a young teenager who runs away to fight in the American Revolutionary War. The novel covers two days, 3 to 4 April 1778.
The Bomb is a 1995 novel by Theodore Taylor written about the protest against nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll after the natives are forced to move. The story mainly follows the life of Sorry Rinamu and the effect of the Able bomb tests on the natives. The imagery and historical relevance truly contributes to the heartbreaking story of the islanders. The novel is divided into three books. It was first published by Harcourt Children's Books in October 1995. The book won the 1996 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. According to Taylor, the novel is based on his own experience aboard the USS Sumner.
Jip, His Story is a 1996 children's book written by American novelist Katherine Paterson. Set in Vermont during the 1850s, it focuses on a 12-year-old orphan named Jip, who was abandoned as an infant and mistaken for a gypsy because of his skin color. Jip works at a poor farm where mentally ill residents are housed. Jip discovers that he is the part-black child of an escaped slave and that he has been claimed as the property of a slave-owning farmer.
Dead End in Norvelt is an autobiographical novel by the American author Jack Gantos, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2011. It features a boy named Jack Gantos and is based in the author's hometown, Norvelt, Pennsylvania. According to one reviewer, the "real hero" is "his home town and its values", a "defiantly political" message.
My Name is Not Angelica is a 1989 young adult novel by Scott O’Dell. This historical fiction takes place during the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John Island, then a colony of Denmark.
Charley Skedaddle is a children's fiction book by Patricia Beatty. The book was first released in 1987 through Troll Associates, later winning the 1988 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Charley Skedaddle is based on true American Civil War records.
One Crazy Summer is a historical fiction novel by American author Rita Williams-Garcia, published by Amistad in 2010. The novel is about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, three sisters, visiting their mother in Oakland, California, during the summer of 1968.
Lauren Wolk is an American author, poet and editor. Born in Baltimore, she studied English literature at Brown University graduating in 1981.
The Honorable Prison is a 1988 Young adult novel by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins. Based on de Jenkins' life, it is about Marta and her family who is placed under house arrest due to her newspaper editor father's criticism of a Latin American government. It won the 1989 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
