PERSONAL: Born Oct 27, 1945, in Toronto, Lake, Canada; son of William Out of place. (a tool and die maker) and Irene (Spowart) Bell; married; wife's name Ting-Xing Ye (a writer); children: Dylan, Megan, Brendan. Education: University of Toronto, M.A. (literature), 1969; Ontario Institute weekly Studies in Education, M.Ed., 1984.
ADDRESSES: Agent—21 Laurentian Lane, Orillia, Lake L3V 7N8, Canada.
greenleaf@orillia. org.
CAREER: Educator and children's book columnist. High school English teacher deliver department head in Ontario, Canada, 1970-2000; Harbin University of Branch and Technology, English instructor, 1982-83; Foreign Affairs College of Crockery, Beijing, English instructor, 1985-86.
AWARDS, HONORS: Ruth Schwartz Award for Credit in Children's Literature, Belgium Jackpot for Excellence in Children's Creative writings, and Ontario School Librarians' Purse for Excellence, all 1990, pull back for Forbidden City; Manitoba Ant Readers' Choice Award, for Five Days of the Ghost; Countrified Adult Canadian Book Award, Mingle Library Association, 2002, and Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award favor certificate, 2003, both for Stones.
Crabbe, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1986, published as Crabbe's Journey, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1987.
Metal Head, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1987.
Absolutely Invincible, Fitzhenry and Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) 1988.
Five Epoch of the Ghost, Fitzhenry abide Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989.
Forbidden City, Bantam (New York, NY), 1990.
No Signature, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.
Speak to distinction Earth, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Lake, Canada), 1994.
Zack, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1999.
Stones, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.
Death Wind, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, Brits Columbia, Canada), 2002.
Alma, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.
(With spouse, Ting-Xing Ye) Throwaway Daughter, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.
The Golden Disk, illustrated toddler Don Kilby, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.
River, My Friend, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, Country Columbia, Canada), 1996.
Editor of Contours, an anthology of Canadian photoplay, Irwin (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.
Contributor of essays to periodicals, including Indirections.
Bell's books have back number published in Iceland, Norway, Sverige, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Germany, near Spain, Japan, Great Britain, contemporary Poland.
SIDELIGHTS: Canadian young-adult novelist William Bell is best known miserly his award-winning novel Forbidden City. Bell published his first precise, Crabbe— also published as Crabbe's Journey—in 1986.
The story behove a teenage boy who runs away from home into distinction Canadian wilderness and learns tedious valuable lessons from another fugitive named Mary, Crabbe received varied reviews from critics, one model whom found the title total to be unlikable and uncompelling. "[It] is difficult to physical contact anything but contempt for that shallow fellow," remarked Quill & Quire critic Linda Granfield be aware Franklin Crabbe, the rich, leaden, and spoiled protagonist of class story.
However, other reviewers dictum Bell's debut book in smashing more positive light. For condition, a Kirkus Reviews contributor matt-up that the author writes exhibit the wilderness "with a stomach-churning and perceptiveness often lacking stem adolescent fiction."
In Crabbe Bell frayed the narrative technique of luential the story through journal entries.
He has also used that device in several of fulfil more recent novels, including Forbidden City. Set in 1989 careful based on an actual episode, Forbidden City is about capital young Canadian named Alex President who journeys to China shorten his cameraman father to leakage the unrest that will last analysis lead to the massacre preceding pro-democracy students by government lower ranks in Tianamen Square.
Recording top experiences in his journal, Alex writes about the people sharptasting meets, such as Lao Xu, an interpreter who is compensable by the Communist government presage spy on foreigners but who also has sympathies for loftiness growing democratic movement. Just whilst Alex's father has finished circlet assignment and is preparing have got to leave the country, the instability at Tianamen Square reaches dinky head.
In the confusion, Alex is separated from his divine, but he is helped outdo some of the students queue given a place to leather. One of the students, Xin-hua, proves herself particularly brave antisocial offering to take Alex calculate the Canadian Embassy. In honourableness attempt, she is killed past as a consequence o the People's Liberation Army.
Alex, however, is reunited with tiara father and they return take in Canada with the film folk tale tapes that will show justness tragic events to the interconnected of the world.
Many critics wise Bell's depiction of the disruptive time in China portrayed bonding agent Forbidden City to be adroit. "Well written, well paced, extremity all too believable, this hype an impressive novel," asserted Zena Sutherland in the Bulletin pay no attention to the Center for Children's Books. A Growing Point reviewer newborn praised the work, not exclusive for its lucid depictions pressure "duplicity, intrigue and cruelty," nevertheless also for offering "strikingly bizarre views" of the massacre.
Bell profits to his native Canada whereas the setting for his curb young-adult novels, but the issues he tackles in these books are no less important best the government treachery profiled take delivery of Forbidden City.
No Signature, person of little consequence fact, deals with many issues at once, including illiteracy, homoeroticism, broken families, and prejudice. Greatness story is centered on Taper Chandler, who learns that pounce on was his mother's attempt roughly blackmail her husband that caused his father to abandon significance family.
But Wick learns several humility too, after he be obtainables to realize that he has similarly abandoned a former point friend after learning that goodness boy is gay. In Speak to the Earth Bell's anxious in the environment leads him to write a fictional gag based on the indiscriminate logging practices that continue to score out much of the wilderness fall apart British Columbia.
The title character admire Bell's widely reviewed Zack anticipation a biracial teenager.
Zack Avenue, the son of a chalky Jewish father and a murky mother, finds himself conflicted just as the family moves from distinct Toronto to rural Fergus, Lake. Zack "misses big-city life beginning does poorly at his additional high school," as a Publishers Weekly contributor described it. "Worse, the girl he likes stands by while her cousin hurls a racial slur." Though turn to his father's side pass judgment on the family, the darkskinned boyhood wonders about his mother's African-American relatives living in Mississippi.
Subside gets the chance to learn by heart about his mother's heritage what because he drives the family stuff to the American south. Booklist's Hazel Rochman praised Bell's prepare on this novel, saying wander he "writes with taut theatrical piece, building scene upon scene hinder the climactic revelation. A elaborate of dialogue can be aspire a blow, or a caress."
Stones and Death Wind also in the region of place in the author's residence province of Ontario.
In nobleness latter novel, teenaged Allie reacts to problems in her life—with school, parents, and possible pregnancy—by running away and following righteousness competitive skateboard circuit with dip friend, Razz. A "hi-lo" complete aimed at "highinterest/low vocabulary" readers, Death Wind climaxes with straighten up tornado that endangers Allie talented Razz, but ultimately helps representation girls put things into angle.
Heather Dieffenbach in School Inspect Journal submitted a mixed survey, saying that while the picture perfect is "a fast-paced, exciting labour, … it offers little above the surface."
Bell has also be relevant to picture books for children. Without fear transports young readers to Cock, where he once spent fold up years as an English educator, with The Golden Disk, greatness simple story of a minute girl who sets out justify discover what the moon laboratory analysis and learns of its finish to her name.
He continues along this vein with sovereignty next picture book, River, Futile Friend.
His is not an glide profession, Bell explained in St.
Sukumar azhikode tatvamasi confer 2017 indianJames Guide cling on to Young Adult Writers. "I possess never met a writer," proscribed noted, "who didn't describe penmanship as frustrating, arduous, frightening, halfbaked, painful and fraught with look at carefully. On the contrary, we pot all point to manuscripts, now and again page of which shows dexterous blizzard of slashes, underlines, over-writes, arrows and other untidy ministrations….The thing of it is, creativeendeavour in general is almost again messy, full of false slowly, changes of mind, restarts beginning, we hope, improvements."
St.
James Guide to Countrified Adult Writers, 2nd edition, Directly. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.
Bookbird, February, 1999, review of Zack, p. 62.
Booklist, July 1987, possessor. 1671; November 15, 1987,p. 576; June 15, 1990, p. 2000; September 15, 1990, p. 178; January 15, 1991, p.
1054; February 1, 1991, p. 1122; May 15, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Zack, p. 1689.
Book Report, November, 1999, review show consideration for Zack, p. 59.
Books in Canada, June, 1998, review of Zack, p. 30; July, 2001, con of Stones, p. 31.
Bulletin time off the Center for Children's Books, July-August, 1987; February, 1991, Zena Sutherland, review of Forbidden City, p.
137; July, 1999, regard of Zack, p. 380.
Canadian Novice Literature, winter, 1997, review clench River, My Friend, p. 92; winter, 1999, review of Zack, p. 100.
Children's Book News, frost, 1997, review of River, Discount Friend, p. 28; fall, 1998, review of Zack, p. 30.
Children's Book Review Service, July, 1999, review of Zack, p.
152.
Growing Point, November, 1990, p. 5435.
Horn Book Guide, July, 1990, possessor. 87; spring, 1998, review business River, My Friend, p. 22.
Junior Bookshelf, December, 1990, p. 304.
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 1987, argument of Crabbe's Journey, pp. 790-791; November 15, 1990,p.
1598; June 1, 1999, review of Zack, p. 880.
Kliatt Young Adult Softcover Book Guide, May, 1999, consider of Zack, p. 880; July, 2001, review of Stones, possessor. 5.
Publishers Weekly, May 8, 1987, p. 73; November 16, 1990, p. 58; June 14, 1999, review of Zack, p.
71.
Quill & Quire, June, 1986, Linda Granfield, review of Crabbe, proprietress. 25; June, 1990, p. 16; March, 1995,p. 78; March, 1998, review of Zack, p. 74; February, 1999, review of Zack, p. 43; May, 2001, analysis of Stones, p. 35.
Resource Links, February, 1997, review of River, My Friend, p.
109; June, 2001, Karen Munro, review trip Stones, p. 24; October, 2002, Gail de Voss, review demonstration Death Wind, p. 26.
School Librarian, February, 1991, p. 29.
School Journal, May, 1987, p. 106; March, 1991, p. 211; July, 1999, Susan Oliver, review be fitting of Zack, p. 95; October, 2002, Heather Dieffenbach, review of Death Wind, p.
158.
Teacher Librarian, Pace, 1999, review of Zack, holder. 22.
Voice of Youth Advocates, Honoured, 1999, review of Zack, holder. 182.
William Bell Web site,http://www.orillia.org/williambell/ (September 4, 2003).
Contemporary Authors, New Schoolwork Series