Erin Bow

Writing influences and themes Bow's novels typically depict young adults in a science fiction and fantasy setting. She has written a defense of young adult fantasy, arguing that fantasy books help young adults to fall in love with reading. Bow's characters rarely have a default race or sexual orientation. doing what is right, and being human.

Awards and honors Four of Bow's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Plain Kate (2010), The Scorpion Rules (2015), Stand on the Sky (2019), and Simon Sort of Says (2023).

Bow's works have landed on multiple "best-of" lists. In 2010, Kirkus Reviews named Plain Kate one of the best books of the year. Young Adult Library Services Association included it on their 2011 list of Best Fiction for Young Adults. In 2013, Kirkus Reviews and Quill & Quire named Sorrow's Know one of the best books of the year. In 2015, Chapters and Kirkus Reviews named The Scorpion Rules one of the best books of the year. In 2023, Kirkus Reviews named Simon Sort of Says one of the best middle grade books of the year.

Personal life In 1997, Noteboom moved to Canada. She writes in a modified backyard shed and enjoys cooking.

Works

Fiction

Standalone novels

Prisoners of Peace series Prisoners of Peace is a book series set in a future dystopia on the prairies of Saskatchewan. Children of rulers are hostages to be killed if their country goes to war. The hostages are kept together in a school and must obey the governing AIs who manage it.

Short fiction Collaborating with her husband James Bow, Erin Bow published a short piece of fiction titled "A Stone of the Heart" in 2001. "A Stone of the Heart" was published in Missing Pieces (2001), a collection of Doctor Who stories.

Poetry

Under her maiden name Erin Noteboom, Bow published two volumes of poetry:

Her poetry was also published in other collections, including The Malahat Review, PRISM International, Prairie Fire,

Memoir

Other In 2013, Bow wrote A Defense of Fantasy: Classical Literature v. Modern YA (2013) for YA Interrobang. She also published short essays for the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics.