Scott O'Dell penned his first children's book when he was in his early sixties. That book, Island of the Blue Dolphins, was an instant success, winning the prestigious Newbery Medal and launching a new career for O'Dell, who up until that time had worked as a cameraman in the movies, written several adult novels, and edited and written for newspapers most of his professional life. For the next twenty-nine years--until his death in 1989--O'Dell continued to write books for children--over two dozen of them. His novels, which often deal with historical subjects from O'Dell's native Southern California, also go further afield in the Americas and in Europe. O'Dell is credited with raising the social conscience of young readers by introducing them to such mature themes as the European mistreatment of minority cultures in the Americas, the need to protect the fragile environment, and the cost to civilization of...