Author+Study

Meet Scott O’Dell // Many of my books are set in the past, but the problems of isolation, moral decisions, greed, need for love and affection are problems of today as well. // —Scott O’Dell

R ** eaders often wrote Scott O’Dell to ask him what it took to be a writer. His reply was the ability to stay seated. “Writing is hard,” he said, “harder than digging a ditch, and it requires patience.” O’Dell (1903–1989) began his fiction writing career in the 1930s. By then he had already worked as a Hollywood movie cameraman and as a book editor for a Los Angeles newspaper. He wrote three novels for adult readers before producing his first novel for young people, and his best-known book, //Island of the Blue Dolphins//. The book was an immediate success, winning the Newbery Medal in 1961 as well as many other awards. His family lived in several towns in southern California, including San Pedro and Julian. San Pedro, located across the San Pedro Channel from San Nicolas Island, would inspire the setting of //Island of the Blue Dolphins//. Julian was an old gold-mining town on the Mexican border. O’Dell became interested in the histories of Native Americans and Spanish settlers in southern California. This interest led him to choose a Native American or Spanish heroine or hero for several of his novels. O’Dell also lived on Rattlesnake Island (now called Terminal Island), across a channel from San Pedro. There, from his house at the water’s edge, he could listen to the constant sound of the waves and watch three masted sailing ships pass by. “//Island of the Blue Dolphins//. . . came directly from my memory of the years I lived at Rattlesnake Island and San Pedro,” O’Dell said. His love of, and respect for, the ocean are also reflected in the novels //Zia//, //The Black Pearl//, //Alexandra//, and // Venus Among the Fishes //. While //Island of the Blue Dolphins// is generally regarded as O’Dell’s masterpiece, three of his other novels for young people have been widely praised. //The King’s Fifth// takes place in New Spain (now Mexico and the southwestern United States) at the time of Coronado’s expedition (1535). The main character, Esteban, is a young mapmaker who wants to be the first person to map the unexplored lands north of present-day Mexico. Instead, he becomes caught up in a feverish search for gold. //Sing Down the Moon// is about the forced relocation of the Navajo people in the 1860s, seen through the eyes of a young Navajo girl. //Streams to the River, River to the Sea: A Novel of Sacagawea// takes place during the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest (1804–1806). O’Dell’s novels continue to appeal to readers because of his universal themes. His characters meet basic human challenges and discover unexpected inner strengths.