Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Born	May 11, 1927 Lemoore, California, US
Died	October 8, 2014 (aged 87) San Francisco, California
Occupation	Children's fiction writer
Nationality	American
Genre	Fantasy novels, mainly
Notable works	The Egypt Game series
Spouse	Larry Snyder
Children	3: Susan Melissa, Douglas, and Ben
Website
zksnyder.com

Zilpha Keatley Snyder (May 11, 1927 – October 8, 2014) was an American author of books for children and young adults. Three of Snyder's works were named Newbery Honor books: The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and The Witches of Worm. She was most famous for writing adventure stories and fantasies.

Biography

Snyder was born in Lemoore, California, and spent all but brief periods of her life in Northern California. She began writing fiction in the 1960s and worked with editor Jean Karl on her debut novel Season of Ponies, which Atheneum Books published in 1964.

Snyder was heavily involved in Below the Root, a 1984 computer game that is set in the Green Sky universe after the events of Until the Celebration. She worked with programmer Dale Disharoon on several aspects of the game including the map and characters.

Between 1964 and 2011, Snyder completed 46 books. Atheneum published her first 22 books and (as a Simon & Schuster imprint) her last three books.

Snyder died at the age of 87 in 2014 from a stroke in San Francisco.

Published books

The Egypt Game series

• The Egypt Game (1967) – Newbery Honor Book
• The Gypsy Game (1997)
• The Gypsy Game Teacher's Guide (1998) – nonfiction

Stanley Family series

• The Headless Cupid (1971), also issued as A Witch in the Family – Newbery Honor Book
• The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Case (1979)
• Blair's Nightmare (1985)
• Janie's Private Eyes (1989)

Green Sky trilogy

Main article: Green Sky Trilogy

• Below the Root (1975)
• And All Between (1976)
• Until the Celebration (1977)

Castle Court series

• The Box and the Bone (1995)
• The Diamond War (1995)
• Ghost Invasion (1995)
• Secret Weapons (1995)

Gib series

• Gib Rides Home (1998)
• Gib and the Gray Ghost (2000)

Other

• Season of Ponies (Atheneum Books, 1964) – her first book
• The Velvet Room (1965)
• Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1966)
• Black and Blue Magic (1967)
• Eyes in the Fishbowl (1968)
• Today Is Saturday (1969)
• The Changeling (1970)
• The Witches of Worm (1972) – Newbery Honor Book
• The Princess and the Giants (1973)
• The Truth About Stone Hollow (1974), also issued as The Ghosts of Stone Hollow
• Heirs of Darkness (1978)
• A Fabulous Creature (1981)
• Come on Patsy(1982)
• The Birds of Summer (1983)
• The Changing Maze (1983)

• And Condors Danced (1987)
• Squeak Saves the Day and Other Tooley Tales (1988)
• Song of the Gargoyle (1991)
• Libby on Wednesday (1991)
• Fool's Gold (1993)
• Cat Running (1994)
• The Trespassers (1995)
• The Runaways (1999)
• Spyhole Secrets (2001)
• The Ghosts of Rathburn Park (2002)
• The Unseen (2004)
• The Magic Nation Thing (2005)
• The Treasures Of Weatherby (2006)
• The Bronze Pen (Atheneum, 2008)
• William S and the Great Escape (2009)
• William's Midsummer Dreams (2011) – sequel to William S. and her last book published

External links

• Official website
• Works by Zilpha Keatley Snyder at Open Library
• Snyder at Library of Congress, with 58 library catalog records