Scott O'Dell

Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 15, 1989) was an American writer of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several children's novels about historical California and Mexico. For his contribution as a children's writer he received the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1972, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books.

In 1984, he established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, an award of $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. His ashes were sprinkled into the Pacific Ocean off La Jolla.

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 served as inspiration for 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 Representative Photoplays Analyzed, Palmer Institute of Authorship 1/1924 Country of the Sun (Southern California, an Informal Guide), Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1/1957

Children's book series Karana Island of the Blue Dolphins, Houghton Mifflin 1/1960, Zia, Houghton Mifflin 3/1976,

Seven Serpents The Captive, Houghton Mifflin 1/1979, Feathered Serpent, Houghton Mifflin 10/1981, The Amethyst Ring, Houghton Mifflin 4/1983, omnibus Seven Serpents Trilogy, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky 3/2009,

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, The Sea is Red, Henry Holt and Company 1958 Journey to Jericho, Houghton Mifflin 8/1964, The King's Fifth, Houghton Mifflin 9/1966, The Black Pearl, Houghton Mifflin 1/1967, Dark Canoe, illustrated by Milton Johnson, Houghton Mifflin 1/1968 latest edition: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky 9/2008, Sing Down the Moon, Houghton Mifflin 9/1970, Treasure of Topo-El-Bampo, Houghton Mifflin 2/1972, Cruise of the Arctic Star, Houghton Mifflin 3/1973, The Child of Fire, Houghton Mifflin 9/1974, The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day, Houghton Mifflin 9/1975, The 290, Houghton Mifflin 10/1976, Carlota, Houghton Mifflin 10/1977, Kathleen Please Come Home, Houghton Mifflin 5/1978, Daughter of Don Saturnino, Oxford University Press 3/1979, Sarah Bishop (They Took Away Her Home and Her Family), Houghton Mifflin 1/1980 latest edition: San Val 10/1999, The Spanish Smile, Houghton Mifflin 10/1982, Castle in the Sea, Houghton Mifflin 10/1983, Alexandra, Houghton Mifflin 4/1984, The Road to Damietta, Houghton Mifflin 10/1985, Streams to River, River to the Sea (a Novel of Sacagawea), Houghton Mifflin 4/1986, The Serpent Never Sleeps (a Novel of Jamestown and Pocahontas), Houghton Mifflin 9/1987, Black Star, Bright Dawn, Houghton Mifflin 1/1988 latest edition: Graphia 3/2008, My Name Is Not Angelica, Houghton Mifflin 10/1989, Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, with Elizabeth Hall, Houghton Mifflin 4/1992, Venus Among the Fishes, with Elizabeth Hall, Houghton Mifflin 4/1995,