Lloyd Alexander is a towering figure in young adult literature with his fiction earning awards, critical praise, and a large audience. He did not come by his fame and popularity easily; he labored for many years and endured frequent rejections before achieving renown. The tremendous success of his second novel for young adults, The Book of Three (see separate entry, Vol. 5), made him almost overnight one of the foremost writers for The Arkadians 4425 young people. The book's lyrical prose, complex characters, and wellstructured plot justifiably garnered critical acclaim and great acceptance from the book-buying public.

He was born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1924 to Edna Chudley Alexander and Alan Audley Alexander, a stockbroker. As a youngster, he was an avid reader of mythology and folk tales. These early readings may have inspired The Arkadians and his other recent writings for young adults and younger children...