Betsy Byars

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = Betsy Byars
caption =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1928|8|7|mf=y
deathdate =
occupation = Novelist
genre = Realistic Fiction
movement =
notableworks =
notableworks = "Summer of the Swans", "The Night Swimmers"
influences =
influenced =
religion
website = http://www.betsybyars.com

Betsy Cromer Byars (August 7, 1928 - ) is an American children's author. Her novel "Summer of the Swans" won the 1971 Newbery Medal. [Author's website] She has also received a National Book Award, for "The Night Swimmers" (1980), and an Edgar Award, for "Wanted...Mud Blossom" (1991). In 1987 she received the Regina Medal, for lifetime achievement, from the Catholic Library Association.

Life

Byars was born Betsy Cromer August 7, 1928, in Charlotte, North Carolina. She attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, from 1946 to 1948, and graduated in 1950 from Queens College in Charlotte, with a bachelor's degree in English.

Cromer married Ed Byars June 24, 1950, and they had three daughters and a son between 1951 and 1958. In 1956, she began writing for magazines. Her first book, "Clementine", was published in 1962. [Autobiography from author's website.]

Betsy and Ed Byars are both licensed aircraft pilots and live on an airstrip in Seneca, South Carolina, the bottom floor of their house being a hangar. [Author's website]

Notes

Works

*1962 "Clementine"
*1965 "The Dancing Camel"
*1966 "Rama, the Gypsy Cat"
*1967 "The Groober"
*1968 "The Midnight Fox"
*1970 "Summer of the Swans"
*1971 "Go and Hush the Baby"
*1972 "The House of Wings"
*1973 "The 18th Emergency"
*1974 "After the Goat Man"
*1976 "The TV Kid"
*1977 "The Pinballs"
*1978 "The Cartoonist"
*1978 "The Winged Colt of Casa Mia"
*1979 "Trouble River"
*1980 "The Night Swimmers"
*1981 "The Cybil War"
*1982 "The Animal, The Vegetable, and John D. Jones"
*1982 "The Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish"
*1983 "The Glory Girl"
*1984 "The Computer Nut"
*1985 "Cracker Jackson"
*1990 "Good-Bye, Chicken Little"
*1991 "The Seven Treasure Hunts"
*1992 "Coast to Coast"
*1993 "McMummy"
*1995 "Growing Up Stories"
*1996 "The Joy Boys"
*1996 " Tornado" (illustrated by Doron Ben-Ami)
*2000 " Me Tarzan"
*2002 "Keeper of the Doves"
*2004 "Top Teen Stories" (contribution)

Ant Series

*1996 "My Brother, Ant"
*1997 "Ant Plays Bear"

Bingo Brown Series

*1988 "The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown"
*1991 "Bingo Brown and the Language of Love"
*1992 "Bingo Brown, Gypsy Lover"
*1992 "Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance"

The Blossom Family Series

*1986 "The Not-Just-Anybody Family"
*1986 "The Blossoms Meet the Vulture Lady"
*1987 "The Blossoms and the Green Phantom"
*1987 "A Blossom Promise"
*1991 "Wanted...Mud Blossom"

The Golly Sisters Series

*1985 "The Golly Sister Go West"
*1990 "Hooray for the Golly Sisters"
*1994 "The Golly Sisters Ride Again"

Herculeah Jones Series

*1994 "The Dark Stairs"
*1995 "Tarot Says Beware"
*1996 "Dead Letter"
*1997 "Death's Door"
*1998 "Disappearing Acts"
*2006 "King of Murder"
*2006 "The Black Tower"

Collaborations with daughters Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers

*2000 "My Dog, My Hero"
*2004 "The SOS File"
*2007 "Dog Diaries"

Memoir

*1991 "The Moon and I"

References

* [http://www.betsybyars.com/auto.html Autobiography] . Retrieved July 2, 2006.
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=3960 Betsy Byars] . Random House, Inc. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
* [http://www.betsybyars.com/books.html Books by Betsy Byars] . Retrieved August 5, 2006.
* [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall97/schaefer.html The Alan Review]

External links

* [http://www.betsybyars.com Betsy Byars' website]