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Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian author. Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, he spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has also lived in England and Ireland.
Oppel's first published book, Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure (1985), was written while he was a high school student at St. Michaels University School in Victoria. Oppel forwarded the newly completed manuscript to his favorite author and family friend, Roald Dahl, who in turn recommended it to his agent. Oppel went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree in cinema studies and English at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, writing The Live-Forever Machine (1992) during his final year. Oppel moved to England and wrote a number of books during that period, gleaning several ideas while working at typing students' papers. Oppel worked as an editor at Quill and Quire, the trade magazine of the Canadian publishing industry, from 1995 to 1996.
He is probably best known for his trilogy of Silverwing, Sunwing, and Firewing. His most recent books are Airborn (2004) and its sequel, Skybreaker (2005), and Darkwing (2007), the prequel to his Silverwing trilogy. Set 65 million years ago, Darkwing depicts the tale of the first bat, Dusk, who discovers that he has the gift of flight. Being the only one from his colony that's capable of powered flight, he quickly becomes an outcast. When half of his colony is wiped out by predators, he embarks on a dangerous quest to find a new home.
Kenneth Oppel stated during his recent Canadian book tour that he has completed his next book in the Airborn and Skybreaker series, which will be released in September 2008[1] . It is titled Starclimber and will be about the first airship journey into space. All main characters such as Matt Cruse and Kate DeVries will return.
The author has won several literary awards, including the 2004 Governor General's Literary Award for English language children's literature (for Airborn) and The Times Children's Novel of 2005 (for Skybreaker, named a 2006 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association).
Oppel is married to Philippa Sheppard, and has three children, Sophia, Nate and Julia. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
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[edit] Children's Novels
[edit] Barnes and the Brains
[edit] Other Children's Novels
[edit] Young Adult Novels
[edit] The Silverwing Saga
[edit] Matt Cruse
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[edit] Other Young Adult Novels
[edit] Picture Books
[edit] Adult Novels
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