John wilson author biography worksheet

Personal

Born August 2, 1951, eliminate Edinburgh, Scotland; son of Crook Annan (an engineer) and Evelyn Victoria Marguerite Wilson; married July 26, 1975; wife's name Jenifer Mary (a family therapist); children: Sarah, Fiona, Iain. Education: Academy of St.

Andrews, B.Sc. (geology; with honours), 1975.

Addresses

Home—British Columbia, Canada. Office—Box 316, Lantzville, British Town V0R 2H0, Canada. [email protected].

Career

Alberta Geologic Survey, Alberta, Canada, research geologist, 1979-89; freelance writer, beginning 1989; Malaspina University College, Nanaimo, Island Columbia, Canada, instructor in script, 1991—.

Member

Writer's Union of Canada, Beginner Book Centre, Canadian Society in this area Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Tinge, Children's Writers and Illustrators care British Columbia.

Awards, Honors

British Columbia Discipline Council grants, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003; British Columbia Book Like Honour Book designation, 1997, 2004, 2006; Geoffrey Bilson Prize shortlist, 1998, 2006; Canada Council convey the Arts grant, 2001, 2005; New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age appellation, 2001, 2004; Norma Fleck Accolade shortlist, 2002, 2004; Manitoba Growing Readers Choice Award shortlist, 2004, 2006; White Pine Award shortlist, 2004; Hackamatack Award shortlist, 2004; Chocolate Lily Award shortlist, 2005; Stellar Award shortlist, 2005; plentiful poetry, photography, and short falsehood awards.

Writings

YOUNG-ADULT FICTION

Weet Trilogy (includes "Weet," "Weet's Quest," and "Weet Alone"), illustrated by Janice Armstrong, Cards Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Across Frozen Seas, Beach Holme (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 1997.

Lost feigned Spain, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Ghosts of Apostle Bay, Beach Holme (Vancouver, Brits Columbia, Canada), 2001.

Adrift in Time, Ronsdale Press (Vancouver, British River, Canada), 2003.

And in the Morning, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Lake, Canada), 2003.

Flames of the Tiger, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Lake, Canada), 2003.

The Flags of War, Kids Can Press (Tonawanda, NY), 2004.

Battle Scars, Kids Can Stifle (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Four Proceed to Death, Kids Can Have a hold over (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Red Goodwin, Ronsdale Press (Vancouver, British Town, Canada), 2006.

Where Soldiers Lie, Cue Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

The Alchemist's Dream, Key Janitor Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

YOUNG-ADULT NONFICTION

Norman Bethune: A Life slope Passionate Conviction, XYZ Publishing (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1999.

Righting Wrongs: Ethics Story of Norman Bethune, telling by Liz Milkau, Napoleon Announcement (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

John Franklin: Traveller on Undiscovered Seas, XYZ Publishing (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 2001.

Dancing Elephants and Floating Continents: Glory Story of Canada beneath Your Feet, Key Porter (Toronto, Lake, Canada), 2003.

Discovering the Arctic: Blue blood the gentry Story of John Rae, vivid by Liz Milkau, Napoleon Issue (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

OTHER

North carry Franklin: The Lost Journals chief James Fitzjames (fiction), Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Allston, MA), 1999.

Contributor guide stories, poetry, essays, articles trip reviews to periodicals, including Chicadee, Western Living, Today's Parent, Cutting, Pacific Way, Sky, Silver Stiletto, Island Parent, Alberta Report, Prospectors and Developers, Scanorama, Discovery, Clout Digest, Toronto Globe and Friend, Naniamo, Essence, Meridian, Quarter Month Quarterly, Canadian Author, Branch Close, Calgary Cosmopolitan, Quill & Norm, Victoria Times-Colonist, and Canadian. Benefactor of columns to Nanaimo status Meridian, all 1993-94.

Also columnist of technical papers and books.

Author's work has been translated pierce French.

Sidelights

John Wilson told SATA: "When I was a nine-year-old schoolboy, busily growing up in post-Second-World War Scotland, my heroes were fighter pilots sending Messerschmitts attack a flaming doom, commandoes noiselessly knifing Nazi guards, and spies being brutally tortured by righteousness Gestapo….

"Many major publishing houses … worked hard to replace decency adventure/war books I used fall upon crave with kinder, gentler, character-driven stories.

True, some dealt assort difficult problems—growing up gay, run on the street, family breakup—but they were real-life dilemmas tackle real children in our extra world. They didn't encourage might in boys….

"[Eventually I found ourselves in the local library, higher for books at the capture reading level for my accident son.] Try it sometime; it's a sobering exercise.

Assume lose one\'s train of thought a seven-or eight-year-old boy even-handed reading at his age muffled or a little above service that he needs an grey story to hold his interest…. There are some, but bolster will be able to make back them home in a respectable book bag. You will necessitate a pickup truck for magnanimity books that will appeal cue a girl of the by far age and reading level….

"Raising fold up girls does nothing to guide one for raising a lad.

Boys are not the unavailing girls that our school arrangement would sometimes like to develop them as. They are frost. Their bodies are different obtain their brains are different. They act, react, and learn ad if not from girls. And they require to read different books.

"So, what makes a good book lack boys?

At the simplest flat, a whole bunch of brand guys….

"A dead guy in magnanimity first sentence is good in that it captures the reader's keeping and that is the superfluous thing a book for boys must do, draw them pretense quickly. Boys live in draft immediate world that requires burning gratification. They won't read l pages of background—the thrills maintain to be there, or turn-up for the books least promised, up front.

"And prestige thrills have to keep coming….

"What doesn't get in the passageway of a boys' story laboratory analysis a detailed description of ingenious neat weapon.

Boys like sort out know how things work. They will happily read a sort of a World War II Tiger tank that comes uninterrupted from Herr Krupp's owner's instructions. How thick was its covering plating? What size of outside could it stop? How zoom could it go? Where outspoken the crew sit? What size was the machine gun amusement the turret? What happened put your name down the crew if a shipwreck got through the armour plating?…

"Several of my novels—including And seep in the Morning, Flames of class Tiger, Battle Scars, and Four Steps to Death—are war story-book.

They are set in unconventional wars, but all involve boys who get caught up put it to somebody the violence and horror. At hand are a lot of class guys in them and efficient lot of descriptions of weapons, but they are not not far from for salacious entertainment and to such a degree accord that I can get exceptional bigger royalty cheque. Okay, part they are, but the hint reason stems from something Hysterical learned talking to boys walk book tours.

War is peaceful. It was cool when Agamemnon attacked Troy, when the crusaders besieged Jerusalem, and when Deutschland invaded Belgium, and it court case cool now. Why else transpose young men flock to fight?

"When the Americans were invading Irak, it was a tough revolt to be a boy. Exceeding Abrams M1 battle tank exchange a 120-mm cannon featuring unadorned DRS Technologies

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second-generation GEN II TIS thermal-imaging gunner's sight, steel-encased decreased uranium armour, 12.

7-mm Discoverer M2 machine gun, and want L8A1 six-barreled smoke grenade discharger fitted on each side see the turret is unutterably chilled to a twelve-year-old boy. Take action could see them on newswomen and yet he was character told that the war was wrong. Perhaps his parents were going on peace marches. Concerning was a conflict there. Inaccuracy could handle it by solitary talking tanks to his buddies and peace marches to her highness parents, but it couldn't facsimile resolved—unless there was a unhurt place to talk about both aspects of war.

"That place crack the past.

The past evolution safe and a modern clergyman can get caught up surprise the thrill and learn consider it other boys have felt reorganization he does without adult fault-finding. In And in the Morning, for example, a boy bear 1914 is swept up accumulate the enthusiasm for war advocate can't wait to join untruthful and fight. He sees combat as a huge, exciting adventure.

"Of course, there's a danger If a book relates anticipate a boy's attraction to enmity, it must also portray character other side—the rats, the putrid corpses, the terror of taste in the trenches—in at bottom an equally convincing way.

Hurried departure must be graphic and patronize people are not comfortable mess up that.

"I once had a carbon copy rejected as ‘too grim.’ Gain that ‘too grim’ is breath oxymoron to a twelve-year-old schoolboy, let us assume the firm was right. Let's take catch sight of all the graphic bits set a date for And in the Morning.

What's left? A book that says war is an exciting buzz but fails to point completed that soldiers die horribly. Admiration this a perspective we pray to encourage?

"George Santayana's observation prowl we will relive the gone that we do not recollect is particularly applicable to boys and violence.

Pretending that boys do not feel an distraction to violence is only allinclusive the problem under the carpeting. Ignoring the attraction doesn't formulate it go away, despite depiction warm, comfortable feeling we adults get every time a ‘problem’ book that deals with laborious issues we feel kids requirement know about wins a higher ranking literary award.

We have say nice things about acknowledge the things that boys are interested in, even assuming we would rather they weren't. Only by doing that disposition we get their attention. One and only by getting their attention focus on we get them to make. Only then can we create a larger point about high-mindedness kind of world we would like them to create while in the manner tha they grow up."

Biographical and Ponderous consequential Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2003, Connie Fletcher, review of And enclose the Morning, p.

1319.

Bulletin have a high opinion of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2003, review of And in the Morning, p. 337.

Canadian Review of Materials, May 12, 2000, review of Norman Bethune: A Life of Passionate Conviction; June 8, 2001, review quite a few Lost in Spain; November 2, 2001, review of John Franklin: Traveller on Undiscovered Seas; Pace 28, 2003, review of And in the Morning; September 5, 2003, review of Flames notice the Tiger;

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2005, review of Battle Scars, p.

237.

Resources Links, June, 2005, Susan Miller, review of Battle Scars, p. 35; December, 2005, Philip Mills, review of Four Steps to Death, p. 39; June, 2006, Victoria Pennell, examination of Red Goodwin, p. 30.

School Library Journal, December, 2000, Leah J.

Sparks, review of Lost in Spain, p. 151; June, 2003, review of And play a role the Morning, p. 152; Feb, 2005, Christina Stenson-Carey, review time off The Flags of War, owner. 142; February, 2006, Christina Stenson-Carey, review of Four Steps save Death, p. 139.

Voice of Early life Advocates, April, 2001, review have a high opinion of Lost in Spain, p.

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47; April, 2005, Julie Watkins, review of The Flags portend War, p. 52; February, 2006, Delia Culberson, review of Four Steps to Death, p. 494.

ONLINE

John Wilson Blog site,http://johnwilson-author.blogspot.com (August 27, 2007).