Zilpha Keatley Snyder (May 11, 1927 – October 7, 2014) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

books for children 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 ...

and

young adults A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

. Three of Snyder's works were named

Newbery Honor Newbery is a surname. People *Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver *David Newbery (born 1943), British economist *Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot *Francis Newbery (disambiguation), seve ...

books: ''

The Egypt Game ''The Egypt Game'' (1967) is a Newbery Honor-winning novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Set in a small college town in California, the novel follows the creation of a sustained imaginative game by a group of six children. Summary April Hall, the d ...

'', '' The Headless Cupid'' and '' The Witches of Worm''. She was most famous for writing adventure stories and fantasies.

Biography

Snyder earned a BA from Whittier College in 1948, and also attended the University of California at Berkeley from 1958-60. Her obituary in ''The Washington Post'' notes, ''"Mrs. Snyder displayed almost uncanny insight into the intellectual, emotional and imaginative lives of boys and girls, a perspective gained in part through her years as a schoolteacher"'', noting that while she accompanied her husband "on his careers in the military and in music, she taught at schools in New York, Washington State, Alaska and California." After they settled in Berkeley, she taught the upper grades of elementary school. She began writing fiction in the 1960s and worked with influential children's book editor

Jean Karl Jean Edna Karl (July 29, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois – March 30, 2000 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was an American book editor who specialized in children's and science fiction titles. She founded and led the children's division and young ad ...

on her debut novel ''Season of Ponies'', which

Atheneum Books Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since its acquisition of Macmillan in 1994 and it created Athene ...

published in 1964. This was the first of her thirteen collaborations with illustrator Alston Raible. Between 1964 and 2011, Snyder completed 46 books. Atheneum published her first 22 books and (as a Simon & Schuster imprint) her last three books. Her ''New York Times'' obituary noted, “She mixed realism and the supernatural, and her stories often had endings that could be interpreted from either viewpoint. Her plots were tight, and her protagonists were often vital, thoughtful, courageous females." After having written the novel ''Below the Root'' and its two sequels, Snyder was heavily involved in the 1984 '' Below the Root'' computer game that is set in the Green Sky universe, occurring after the events of the final novel, ''Until the Celebration''. She worked with programmer Dale Disharoon on several aspects of the game including the map and characters. Zilpha Keatley Snyder died at the age of 87 in 2014 from a

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San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Awards and honors

In 1972, ''The Witches of Worm'' was also a finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in the Children's Book category. In 1998, Snyder was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree from

Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...

. Her manuscripts are archived in the Children's Literature Research Collections of the Kerlan Collection, at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.

Published books

The Egypt Game series

* ''

'' (1967) – Newbery Honor Book *''

The Gypsy Game ''The Gypsy Game'' by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is a 1997 sequel to the Newbery Honor book '' The Egypt Game''. All of the main characters return in a new adventure. This book was followed by a 1998 guide, ''The Gypsy Game Teacher's Guide''. Plot ...

'' (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

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

Castle Court Kids series

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

Gib series

*''

Gib Rides Home ''Gib Rides Home'' is a 1998 novel for young readers by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. It is set in the early 1900s and concerns the plight of young orphan boys who were farmed out to work as unpaid labor until they turned eighteen. A sequel entitled ''G ...

'' (1998) *''Gib and the Gray Ghost'' (2000)

Other

* ''Season of Ponies'' (

, 1964) – her first book *''The Velvet Room'' (1965) *''Zilpha Keatley Snyder'' (1966) *''Black and Blue Magic'' (1967) *''

Eyes in the Fishbowl ''Eyes in the Fishbowl'' is a 1968 adolescent novel by author Zilpha Keatley Snyder, illustrated by Alton Raible. A 14-year-old boy narrates the story of strange events that happen at Alcott-Simpson's, an upscale city department store, and his f ...

'' (1968) *''Today Is Saturday'' (1969) - poetry *'' 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 The ''Song of the Gargoyle'' is a 1991 fantasy novel for young readers by Zilpha Keatley Snyder that is set in the Middle Ages. Plot summary A young boy named Tymmon who lives with his father Komus, the court jester of Austerneve. When Komus is ...

'' (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 the Great Escape'', and also her last book published.

References

External links

* *
Zilpha K. Snyder webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Zilpha Keatley 1927 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American women novelists Newbery Honor winners People from Lemoore, California American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from California Women science fiction and fantasy writers