Sarah Ellis (author)

For the 19th Century English author, see Sarah Stickney Ellis.

Sarah Ellis
Born	(1952-05-19) May 19, 1952 (age 72) Vancouver, British Columbia
Occupation	Writer, librarian, teacher
Alma mater	University of British Columbia, BA, 1973; MLS, 1975 Simmons College, MA, 1980
Genre	Children's literature
Website
sarahellis.ca

Sarah Ellis (born 19 May 1952 in Vancouver)[1] is a Canadian children's writer and librarian. She has been a librarian in Toronto and Vancouver. She has also written reviews for Quill and Quire.[2] She taught writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a masthead reviewer for The Horn Book.

Ellis has said that she gets her ideas from "memories, anecdotes people tell me, radio interviews, dreams, newspaper articles, family stories, being curious, observing the world, paying attention."[3] She is a strong advocate for children's literature and she belongs to many different clubs and unions such as the Writers' Union of Canada, the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable, Children's Writers and Illustrators and many more.[4]

Biography

Ellis was born 19 May 1952 in Vancouver, British Columbia to Joseph Walter and Ruth Elizabeth Ellis[1] and has two older brothers.[5][6]

She attended the University of British Columbia where she received her Bachelor of Arts honours in 1973 and a Master of Library Science (MLS) in 1975.[1] After receiving her MLS, Ellis began working as a librarian in Vancouver before attending Simmons College, where she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in children's literature in 1980.[1][7]

Ellis published her first book, The Baby Project, in 1986.

In 1999, she was a writer-in-residence at Massey College at the University of Toronto.[1]

Ellis retired from library work in 2007 but shortly after began teaching at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has also written reviews for Quill and Quire[2] and is a masthead reviewer for The Horn Book.

She is an out lesbian.[8]

Awards and honours

In 1995, Ellis won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People,[9] and in 2013, she received the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence.[10] She has also been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award four times.[6]

In 2012, Ellis was chair of the judges for the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.[11]

Awards for Ellis's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1987	The Baby Project	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Winner	[12][13]
1990	Next Door Neighbours	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
1991	Pick-Up Sticks	Governor General's Award for English-Language Children's Literature	Winner	[14][15]
1992	Next Door Neighbours	Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award	Nominee	[16]
	Pick Up Sticks	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
1994	Out of the Blue	Governor General's Award for English-Language Children's Literature	Finalist
	Pick Up Sticks	Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award	Nominee	[17]
1995	Out of the Blue	Mr. Christie's Book Award: English, Ages 12 and up	Winner	[18]
		National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award	Winner	[19]
1997	Back of Beyond	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Winner	[20]
	Out of the Blue	Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award	Nominee	[21]
2000	The Young Writer's Companion	Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction	Finalist
2002	Dear Canada: A Prairie as Wide as the Sea	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
2003	Salmon Forest	Science in Society Book Award	Winner	[22]
	The Several Lives of Orphan Jack	Governor General's Award for English-Language Children's Literature	Finalist
2004		Canadian Library Association Book of the Year	Shortlist	[1]
		Mr. Christie's Book Award: English, Ages 8–11	Winner
		National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award	Winner	[23]
		Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
2007	The Queen's Feet	Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
	Odd Man Out	Canadian Library Association Book of the Year	Shortlist	[1]
		Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Winner
		TD Canadian Children's Literature Award	Winner	[10][24]
2008		Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award	Nominee	[25]
2016	Outside In	Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award	Nominee	[26]

Publications

Middle grade and young adult fiction

• The Baby Project (1986)
• Next Door Neighbours (1990)
• Pick Up Sticks (1991)
• Out of the Blue (1994)
• The Several Lives of Orphan Jack, illustrated by Bruno St-Aubin (2003)
• Odd Man Out (2006)
• Outside In (2014)
• Dodger Boy (2018)

Picture books

• Next Stop!, illustrated by Ruth Ohi (2000)
• The Queen's Feet, illustrated by Dušan Petričić (2006)
• Salmon Forest, with David Suzuki, illustrated by Sheena Lott (2003)
• Waiting for Sophie, illustrated by Carmen Mok (2017)
• As Glenn as Can Be, illustrated by Nancy Vo (2022)

Ben series

The Ben books are illustrated by Kim LaFave.

• Ben Over Night (2001)
• Big Ben (2001)
• A+ for Big Ben (2015)
• Ben Says Goodbye (2015)
• Ben and the Scaredy-Dog (2018)

Short story collections

• Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernatural (1997)

Dear Canada Diary books

• A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall (2002)
• A Season for Miracles: Twelve Tales of Christmas (2006)
• Days of Toil and Tears: The Child Labour Diary of Flora Rutherford (2008)
• A Christmas to Remember: Tales of Comfort and Joy (2009)
• That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton (2011)

Nonfiction books

• The Young Writer's Companion, illustrated by Juan Fitzherbert (1999)
• From Reader to Writer: Teaching Writing Through Classic Children's Books (2000)

Anthologies edited

• Girls' Own: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction for Young Readers (2001)

References

1. "Ellis, Sarah 1952-". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
2. Ellis, Sarah. Quill and Quire. January 2009. ^[full citation needed]
3. "Sarah Ellis: Writer, Reader, Storyteller, Librarian". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
4. "Sarah Ellis". CANSCAIP members. Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers (canscaip.org). Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
5. "Ellis, Sarah". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
6. "About". Sarah Ellis. Archived from the original on 2019-07-06. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
7. Donohue, Kathleen. "Sarah Ellis". Oxford University Press 2001
8. "Secret garden". Xtra. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
9. "1995 Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
10. Martha Perkins (April 11, 2013). "Sarah Ellis and Lorna Crozier to receive Lieutenant Governor Award". WE Vancouver. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
11. "And the Judges Are..." Shelf Awareness. 2013-06-04. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
12. "B.C. Book Prize winners". Quill and Quire. 2007-05-04. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
13. "1987 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-02-04. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
14. "Governor General's Literary Awards". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
15. "1991 Governor General's Literary Awards Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
16. "1992". Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
17. "1994". Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
18. "1994 Mr. Christie's Book Award Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
19. "1995 National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
20. "1997 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
21. "1997". Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
22. "2003 Science in Society Book Award Recipient: David Suzuki and Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
23. "2004 National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
24. "2007 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award Recipient: Sarah Ellis". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
25. "2008". Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
26. "2016 Nominees". Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. Archived from the original on 2023-02-08. Retrieved 2023-05-02.

External links

• Official website
• Sarah Ellis at Library of Congress, with 15 library catalogue records