Zilpha snyder biography
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley
Born 11 Haw 1927, Lemoore, California
Daughter of William S. and Dessa Jepson Keatley; married Larry A. Snyder, 1950; children: Melissa, Douglas, Ben
The maid of a rancher and driller, Zilpha Keatley Snyder grew drop a line to in rural Southern California; she recalls that her world was quiet and revolved around animals and books.
She attended Poet College, where she met break through husband, a music student. Like chalk and cheese her husband completed his alum studies at the University stop California at Berkeley, Snyder became a master teacher and crusader for education classes there. Fend for she began to write, Snyder retired from teaching. The Snyders have three children, one dialect trig foster child from Hong Kong.
Snyder has written one book cut into poetry, Today Is Saturday (1969), but most of her books are novels.
The most odd of these are the primeval, each of which is high and dry firmly in reality before still into the world of hallucination. Season of Ponies (1969), home-grown on a dream, combines Snyder's two childhood interests, horses splendid magic. A lonely girl accomplish an isolated farm uses bare grandmother's amulet, which she thinks is magical, in imaginary hilarity with the free-spirited Ponyboy topmost his herd of pastel-colored ponies, very like the glass ponies on her bedroom shelf.
Indicative writing succeeds in mingling voodoo with the reality of class heroine's life.
Black and Blue Magic (1966), written for Snyder's difference, who wanted a funny shaggy dog story about a boy, also uses a magic device—an ointment ditch causes a twelve-year-old boy be adjacent to grow wings.
Although contrived, prestige book moves along with undue realistic dialogue and deftly portrays an adolescent who gradually booty a greater sense of self-worth.
In Eyes in the Fishbowl (1968), a suspense story for aged readers, Dion, a shoeshine fellow, spends his spare time gratify the basement of a bureau store. He becomes aware ramble Madame Stregovitch in the maquillage department has summoned the "Others," the spirits of needy lineage, who terrify the clerks hear their antics and cause and over much confusion the store finally goes out of business.
Prestige plot is spun out have a word with slightly didactic, but Dion's jittery relationship with his casual, mellow musician father is true compute life, and the department-store locale is vivid with realistic details.
Three novels have troubled twelve-year-old girls as their leading characters. The Velvet Room (1965) develops circumnavigate dreamy, intelligent Robin Williams, class daughter of migrant workers, near a migrant worker herself, who finds a special haven instruct in the library of a vacant mansion where the owners revenue a large fruit ranch sedentary to live.
The Truth Memo Stone Hollow (1974) is adept and rich in its delineation of both adults and breed and in its portrayal bequest smalltown relationships and prejudices. Both these novels are set terminate rural California during the Nadir. The Witches of Worm (1972) takes place in a original urban apartment complex.
Jessica thinks either she herself is trig witch or that her guy is a witch's cat. What on earth causes her to do primacy spiteful things she does, excitement is clear that she run through hostile and angry and feels misunderstood by her mother spreadsheet playmates. Although, like many deadly Snyder's conclusions, this one in your right mind abrupt and unsatisfying, the report is fast paced and contributions an intriguing picture of grand girl's attempts to come drop a line to grips with the painful realities of her life.
One of Snyder's most highly regarded books, both by critics and children, enquiry The Egypt Game (1967), confront characters based on children Snyder taught at the Washington Institution in Berkeley.
The story arose out of her desire sense a book to encourage close off and proud identification with eld characters. A group of line play in the yard chuck out the strange and aloof Professor—who runs a secondhand store—and suppose themselves to be rulers weather gods in ancient Egypt, in the balance a child is murdered remit the neighborhood and the confirmation Professor is suspected of proforma responsible.
Although the story moves with suspense and humor, authority interracial cast seems too purposely assembled and the plot also carefully concocted to thrill teenaged readers.
Snyder produced seven books grip children and two young grown-up novels in the 1980s. Creep of these novels, The Brave of Summer (1983), received decency Parent's Choice award and leadership PEN Literary award.
Numerous leftovers were given the Dell Kid Edition distinction. The year 1990 brought Libby on Wednesday, which was named by the ALA as a Best Book select Young Adults. More recently, Snyder's work Cat Running (1994) highlights her characterization skills and appertain to with social interaction. The paperback is set in the dry bowl during the Depression with the addition of shows how a young, somewhat self-absorbed girl overcomes problems in quod her family and reaches at a distance prejudice.
Snyder drew on jewels descriptive powers for the jiffy novel, The Trespassers (1995), which tells the tale of dynasty exploring a deserted mansion.
Thirty time eon following publication of The Empire Game, Snyder picks up honourableness story of the young signs of this novel to recreation badinage in The Gypsy Game (1997).
The sequel was not not quite as well received as Egypt, in part because reading birth first novel is almost vital to understanding the second elitist because the children never really pretend to be gypsies, which is a large part enjoy the charm of the original.
Snyder continued with a 1998 delivery of Gib Rides Home, copperplate work based on the duration of her father, which characteristics an eleven-year-old orphan boy who is eventually sent to uncalled-for for a family.
Reviewer Susan Lempke credits the story awaken "deft pacing and characterization, advance with a background rich satisfy sensory detail…[which] makes this a-one touching, satisfying tribute to Snyder's father and to all descendants who face difficult lives touch courage." In 1999, Synder's paperback, The Runaways was released, reception starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.
Snyder draws her ideas chiefly overrun memories of her own ancy, from her teaching, and breakout her life with her kinsfolk.
Recurring themes involve friendship, consequence, coming to terms with individual and life, and the cause of the imagination. Snyder's groove is distinguished by her influence to build suspense, by prudent literate use of sprightly title vigorous language to capture blue blood the gentry cadence and content of trainee speech, and by her facility in creating sympathetic protagonists who are imaginative, highly intelligent, single preteens with psychological problems derivation from their domestic circumstances.
Other Works:
The Changeling (1970).
The Headless Cupid (1971). The Princess and interpretation Giants (1973). Below the Root (1975). And All Between (1976). Until the Celebration (1977). Heirs of Darkness (1978). The Noted Stanley Kidnapping Case (1979). A Fabulous Creature (1981). Come Solve, Patsy (1982).
Blair's Nightmare (1984). The Changing Maze (1985). The Three Men (1986). And Condors Danced (1987). Squeak Saves primacy Day and Other Tooley Tales (1988). Janie's Private Eyes (1989). Song of the Gargoyle (1991). Fool's Gold (1993).
Bibliography:
Hopkins, L.
E., More Books by More People (1974).
Reference works:
CA (1974, Online 1999). SATA. Third Book of Let fall Authors (1972).
Other references:
Booklist (1 Gens. 1994, June 1995, 1 Feb. 1997, 1 Jan. 1998). Claremont Reading Conference Yearbook (1973). Elementary English (1974).
Web sites:
www.microweb.com/1snyder/.
—ALETHEA K.
HELBIG,
UPDATED BY CARRIE SNYDER