Maggie de Vries, born in 1961 in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada (but growing up in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia, Canada) is a writer for children, teens and adults and creative writing instructor. Her 2010 book, ''Hunger Journeys'' and her 2015 book ''Rabbit Ears'' both won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.BC Book Prizes, http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2011#childrens, 2011 Winners & Finalists, retrieved February 11, 2014 BC Book Prizes, http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2015#childrens, 2015 Winners & Finalists, retrieved April 26, 2015

Missing Sarah

''Missing Sarah'' is de Vries's best known book; a memoir of her missing adopted sister Sarah de Vries. Sarah was born on May 12, 1969, and the de Vries family adopted her in April 1970. She disappeared from Vancouver's

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...

in April 1998. Her DNA was found on serial killer

Robert Pickton Robert William "Willy" Pickton (born October 24, 1949) is a Canadian serial killer and former pig farmer. He is suspected of being one of the most prolific serial killers in Canadian history. After dropping out of school, Pickton left a butcher ...

's property in August, 2002. In this book, Maggie remembers her sister’s life through Sarah's journal entries and poems and tells the story of her own search for her sister.

Social impact

From 2000 to 2007, Maggie de Vries was children's book editor at Orca Book Publishers in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

. During that time, she served on the board of PACE Society (Prostitution Alternatives Counseling and Education) and coordinated a book club for inner-city women. In the fall of 2005, she was the first Writer-in-Residence at the

Vancouver Public Library Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video game ...

and in the fall of 2012 she was the first Writer-in-Residence at the

University of Northern British Columbia The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a small, research-intensive public university in British Columbia, Canada. The main campus is located in Prince George, with additional campuses located in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Quesnel, and ...

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...

Educator

In her mid-to-late thirties, de Vries was a substitute teacher for five years. Before that, in the late ’80s, she worked for two years as assistant to children’s author

Jean Little Jean Little, CM (January 2, 1932 – April 6, 2020) was an award-winning Canadian writer of over 50 books. Her work mainly consisted of children's literature, but she also wrote two autobiographies: ''Little by Little'' and ''Stars Come Out Wit ...

(who is also her aunt), traveling with her all over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and teaching

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

courses with her at the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

. Until 2002, she taught children's literature courses regularly in Language and Literacy Education at the

UBC The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...

, and she taught a graduate course in Canadian children’s literature at

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Ha ...

in Boston in 1994. She has also taught creative writing at Langara Community College in Vancouver. Since 2003, she has taught a yearly graduate course in writing, publishing, and the book trade in the Masters in Children’s Literature program at UBC. Since 2007 she has taught Writing for Children and Young Adults in UBC's Creative Writing Department. She received her B.A. in English from UBC in 1984, her M.A. also in English in 1992, and her Bachelor of Education, Elementary in 1994. She has also attended

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

and the University of Guelph.

Awards

Maggie de Vries has received awards or honours for most of her works. In 2015, ''Rabbit Ears'' won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In 2012, ''Somebody's Girl'' was a Diamond Willow Award nominee. In 2011, ''Hunger Journeys'' won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In 2007, ''Tale of a Great White Fish: A Sturgeon Story'' won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize , won the 2006 ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award and was a Silver Birch Express Honour Book.Silver Birch Award, https://www.accessola.org/Documents/OLA/Forest/Archives/SilverBirch-Archive-1.pdf?WebsiteKey=397368c8-7910-4dfe-807f-9eeb1068be31&hkey=44e84890-3e3b-474b-996a-f4e9b5c6fcff&=404%3bhttps%3a%2f%2fwww.accessola.org%3a443%2fOLAWEB%2fForest_of_Reading%2fAbout_the_Forest%2fArchive_of_the_Winners_Nominees%2fDocuments%2fOLA%2fForest%2fArchives%2fSilverBirch-Archive-1.pdf ''Missing Sarah: A Memoir of Loss'' was a 2003 Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction nominee, won both the 2004 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in BC Literature and the 2004 VanCity Book Prize, received Honorable Mention for the 2004 Vancouver Book Award and was a 2004 One Book, One Vancouver runner-up. ''How Sleep Found Tabitha'' was nominated for the 2003 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize ''Chance and the Butterfly'' was nominated for four awards in 2002: the Silver Birch Award; the Chocolate Lily Award; the Diamond Willow Award; and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize, http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2002#childrens

Selected works

* ''Rabbit Ears''

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

* ''Big City Bees''

Greystone Books Greystone or Graystone may refer to: Locations * Graystone Manor, the first condominium building built in the continental United States * Greystone, West Virginia * Greystone Airport, a private airport in Ocala, Florida * Greystone (estate), a h ...

* ''Hunger Journeys''

* ''Somebody's Girl'' Orca Books * ''Chance and the Butterfly'' Orca Books * ''Fraser Bear: A Cub's Life''

* ''Tale of a Great White Fish'' Paperback

* ''Once Upon a Golden Apple''

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Orca Books * ''Missing Sarah: A Memoir of Loss''