Scott O'Dell

Scott O'Dell
Born	O'dell Gabriel Scott May 23, 1898 Los Angeles, California, USA
Died	October 15, 1989(1989-10-15) (aged 91) Mount Kisco, New York, USA
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	American
Period	1934–1989
Genres	Children's historical fiction
Notable work(s)	Island of the Blue Dolphins Black Star, Bright Dawn
Notable award(s)	Newbery Medal 1961 Hans Christian Andersen Award 1972
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Hall
www.scottodell.com/index.html

Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 16, 1989) was an American author of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. His best known work is the historical novel Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960), which won the 1961 Newbery Medal and the 1963 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis as well as the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1961. Other award winning books by O'Dell include The King's Fifth (1966), Black Star, Bright Dawn (1988), The Black Pearl (1967), and Sing Down the Moon (1970); which were all also Newbery Honor award books. O'Dell wrote primarily historical fiction. Many of his children's novels are about historical California and Mexico.

Biography

Scott O'Dell was born O'Dell Gabriel Scott but his name was published wrong on a book and he decided to keep the name Scott O'Dell. He was born on Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California, to parents May Elizabeth Gabriel and Bennett Mason Scott. He attended multiple colleges, including Occidental College in 1919, the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1920, Stanford University in 1920-1921, and the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1925. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Air Force. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was employed as a cameraman and technical director, as a book columnist for the Los Angeles Mirror, and as book review editor for the Los Angeles Daily News.

In 1934, O'Dell began writing articles as well as fiction and nonfiction books for adults. In the late 1950s, he began writing children’s books. Scott O’Dell received the Hans Christian Andersen Award for lifetime achievement in 1972. In 1976, he received the University of Southern Mississippi Silver Medallion, and the Regina Medal in 1978.

In 1981, he established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, an award for $5,000 that recognizes outstanding works of historical fiction. The winners must be published in English by a U.S. publisher and be set in the New World (North, Central, and South America). In 1986, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books awarded O’Dell this same award.

Scott O’Dell died of prostate cancer on October 16, 1989 at the age of 91.

Film adaptations

There have been several film adaptations of O'Dell's work. Island of the Blue Dolphins has been translated into a number of languages and was made into a movie in 1964, starring Celia Kaye, Larry Domasin, Ann Daniel, and George Kennedy. In 1978, Saul Swimmer produced and directed a film version of The Black Pearl with Gilbert Roland and Mario Custodio. The King's Fifth was adapted into the 1982 anime television series The Mysterious Cities of Gold, a Japan-France co-production that was aired in several different countries.

Selected works

Nonfiction

• Country of the Sun (Southern California, an Informal Guide), Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1/1957

Children's book series

Karana

1. Island of the Blue Dolphins, Houghton Mifflin 1/1960, ISBN 0-605-21314-3
2. Zia, Houghton Mifflin 3/1976, ISBN 0-395-24393-0

Seven Serpents

1. The Captive, Houghton Mifflin 1/1979, ISBN 0-395-27811-6
2. Feathered Serpent, Houghton Mifflin 10/1981, ISBN 0-395-30851-6
3. The Amethyst Ring, Houghton Mifflin 4/1983, ISBN 0-395-33886-5

• omnibus Seven Serpents Trilogy, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky 3/2009, ISBN 1-4022-1836-1

Other novels

• Woman of Spain (a Story of Old California), Houghton Mifflin 1934
• Hill of the Hawk (Novel of Early California), Houghton Mifflin 1/1947
  • latest edition: Kessinger Publishing 9/2010, ISBN 1-163-37182-4
• The Sea is Red, Henry Holt and Company 1958
• Journey to Jericho, Houghton Mifflin 8/1964, ISBN 0-395-19839-1
• The King's Fifth, Houghton Mifflin 9/1966, ISBN 0-395-06963-9
• The Black Pearl, Houghton Mifflin 1/1967, ISBN 0-395-06961-5
• Dark Canoe, illustrated by Milton Johnson, Houghton Mifflin 1/1968
  • latest edition: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky 9/2008, ISBN 1-4022-1334-2
• Sing Down the Moon, Houghton Mifflin 9/1970, ISBN 0-395-10919-9
• Treasure of Topo-El-Bampo, Houghton Mifflin 2/1972, ISBN 0-395-12576-2
• Cruise of the Arctic Star, Houghton Mifflin 3/1973, ISBN 0-395-16034-3
• The Child of Fire, Houghton Mifflin 9/1974, ISBN 0-395-19496-6
• Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day, Houghton Mifflin 9/1975, ISBN 0-395-21892-1
• The 290, Houghton Mifflin 10/1976, ISBN 0-395-24737-2
• Carlota, Houghton Mifflin 10/1977, ISBN 0-395-25487-5
• Kathleen Please Come Home, Houghton Mifflin 5/1978, ISBN 0-395-26453-9
• Daughter of Don Saturnino, Oxford University Press 3/1979, ISBN 0-19-271429-9
• Sarah Bishop (They Took Away Her Home and Her Family), Houghton Mifflin 1/1980
  • latest edition: San Val 10/1999, ISBN 0-8085-5778-4
• The Spanish Smile, Houghton Mifflin 10/1982, ISBN 0-395-32867-5
• Castle in the Sea, Houghton Mifflin 10/1983, ISBN 0-395-34831-4
• Alexandra, Houghton Mifflin 4/1984, ISBN 0-395-35571-8
• The Road to Damietta, Houghton Mifflin 10/1985, ISBN 0-395-38923-2
• Streams to River, River to the Sea (a Novel of Sacagawea), Houghton Mifflin 4/1986, ISBN 0-395-40430-0
• Serpent Never Sleeps (a Novel of Jamestown and Pocahontas), Houghton Mifflin 9/1987, ISBN 0-395-44242-5
• Black Star, Bright Dawn, Houghton Mifflin 1/1988
  • latest edition: Graphia 3/2008, ISBN 0-547-00515-7
• My Name Is Not Angelica, Houghton Mifflin 10/1989, ISBN 0-395-51061-2
• Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, with Elizabeth Hall, Houghton Mifflin 4/1992, ISBN 0-395-59966-2
• Venus Among the Fishes, with Elizabeth Hall, Houghton Mifflin 4/1995, ISBN 0-395-70561-2
• Zira

References

• Scott O'Dell's website
• Commire, Anne (ed.) (1990). Something About the Author Vol. 60. Gale Research Inc.: Detroit.

External links

• Guide to the Scott O'Dell papers at the University of Oregon