John Wilson knows his history and he knows his storytelling. Somebody should have given Wilson a literary prize long before now. But he's not much of a hobnobber over there on Vancouver Island, and so he persists, under-recognized.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 2, 1951, John Wilson, author of approximately forty books, grew up on the Island of Skye and in Paisley, near Glasgow. His parents had lived most of their lives in India. He earned his Honours B.Sc. in Geology from St. Andrew's University and went to work for the Geological Survey of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Unwilling to consider military service there, he eventually resettled in Calgary, working in gas and oil exploration.

In 1986, as a geologist in Edmonton, John Wilson decided he wasn't travelling enough, so he sold his sports car, took a leave of absence and began to travel around the world, His grand tour took him to Japan, Thailand, Egypt, Greece, Italy, France and Spain. When he returned home, he had difficulty readjusting to the routine of a regular work schedule. A feature article he had sold to The Globe and Mail sparked a desire to write, so he quit his job and became a full-time freelance writer.

From 1995 to 2003, John Wilson published 16 titles, including one adult novel. He also published more than 300 feature articles and essays, 30 poems and numerous book reviews. Wilson has taught English at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo and he gives readings and workshops at schools and conferences across Canada. He specializes in making history come alive for kids.

In Wilson's Flames of the Tiger (Kids Can, 2003 $7.95), a German teenager seduced by the pomp of Hitler's rise is called upon to fight. With Berlin in ruins and the Russian army on its way, he helps a badly wounded Canadian soldier, telling the man his life story to help keep him conscious. As dawn breaks, the soldier recovers and helps Dieter and his sister survive. Details in Flames of the Tiger--like flaming horses running in terror and a soldier's description of Belsen--are not for the squeamish."It is not my intention to apologize for the Nazis," says Wilson. "They, and particularly the SS, richly deserve the abhorrence that the civilized world feels for the values they held and the atrocities they committed. What I have tried to do is imagine what it was like for those who came of age in the 1930s and '40s, indoctrinated from earliest days and swept up in circumstances they could never understand. To have been a teenager in Nazi Germany must have been immensely difficult, and to expect one to have had a rational post-war perspective is unreasonable. The lure of uniforms and flags and the flood of propaganda must have been next to irresistible. Dieter is probably exceptional for questioning as much as he does."

Wilson says if there's an underlying message for his adventure story, it's to always question what people tell you is a self-evident truth, especially when everyone tells you the same thing.

Set during the American Civil War, The Flags of War (2004) concerns two cousins, one American and one Canadian. As the son of a plantation owner, Nate McGregor fights for the South; whereas his cousin Walt in Canada opposes slavery. When a Confederate ship named the Trent, with British envoys aboard, is seized by the Union, Britain and her colonies are on the verge of joining the American Civil War and fighting for Dixie--and this puts Canada in danger of an invasion from the Union Army. The lives of the cousins become linked by a runaway slave named Sunday from Nate's father's plantation. John Wilson's sequel Battle Scars (2005) occurs after the Battle of Shiloh when both Sunday and Walt, who have both re-enlisted, meet Nate at the Libby prison in Virginia where Nate is a guard. Under these grim circumstances, the guard, the prisoner and the slave must reconcile their personal, political and racial differences.

Set during the battle and siege of Stalingrad during 1942-1943, Four Steps to Death (Kidscan $19.95) revisits the horrific encounter between the troops (and egos) of Hitler and Stalin. The 229-day impasse resulted in more than one million deaths and was a crucial turning point in World War II, after which the Germans never won a major battle. John Wilson revisits the city now known as Volgograd through the experiences of a German tank commander, a patriotic Russian soldier and an eight-year-old boy named Sergei who tries to survive in the rubble. In an afterword, Wilson notes the starving and freezing remnants of the German army under Field Marshall von Paulus finally surrendered on February 2,1943. "The dead were burned in piles on the open steppe and the survivors marched off to a captivity from which few returned," he writes. The Battle of Stalingrad remains under-acknowledged in the West because American, British and Canadian troops did not participate.

Having introduced numerous young protagonists who are caught within complex political situations aboard, John Wilson brought his formula for educational and engaging Young Adult fiction closer to home with Red Goodwin (Ronsdale $9.95), an introduction to the life and times of labour leader Ginger "Red" Goodwin, the Socialist folk hero who was forced to seek refuge in the woods around the coal mining community of Cumberland. After his father is killed in World War I, young Will Ryan is sent to live with his uncle, a mine manager at Cumberland. Will Ryan's chance meeting with the outlaw Red Goodwin in the forest prompts him to consider the legitimacy of the miners' unionist activities and Goodwin's radical view that the conflict between Britain and Germany has capitalist origins. Along the way Will befriends a Chinese boy and learns about racism, and he falls in love with a beautiful Scottish girl whose family is helping Goodwin survive in the woods.

In The Alchemist's Dream, John Wilson revisits Henry Hudson's doomed quest to discover a northwest passage to the Far East. In this story, the Nonsuch returns to London in 1669 with a load of fur and the lost journal of the missing explorer Hudson who disappeared in 1611. "In the hands of a greedy sailor, the journal is merely an object to sell," according to the publisher's promo material. "But for Robert Bylot - a once-great maritime explorer - the book is a painful reminder of a past he'd rather forget. As Bylot relives his memories of a plague-ridden city, of the mysterious alchemist John Dee, and of mutiny in the frozen wastes of Hudson Bay, an age-old mystery is both revealed and solved."

Shot at Dawn (Scholastic, 2011) is the World War I tale of a soldier named Allan McBride, who has fought in some of the war's bloodiest battles and seen his best friend killed, but now stands accused of desertion and may face death by firing squad.

Written in Blood (Orca, 2010) is the first installment of the Desert Legends Trilogy re-examining the legend about the infamous American outlaw known as Billy the Kid. In the second novel, Ghost Moon, Wilson follows young James Doolen's story after he discovers the terrible truth about his father in Written in Blood. According to publicity materials, "The year is 1878, and young Jim is not yet ready to return to Canada. Instead he heads up to New Mexico in hopes of finding work and building a life. On the way he meets Bill Bonney (later to be known as Billy the Kid), who takes him to a ranch south of the town of Lincoln, where they both find work as cowboys. Little does Jim know that he is about to get caught up in a vicious battle for the lucrative army contracts with nearby Fort Stanton. As the violence explodes around him, Jim becomes a helpless witness to cold-blooded murder and watches as Bill swears revenge and leads a gang of killers into the hills. However hard he tries, Jim can't escape the violence and is finally drawn into its bloody conclusion on the streets of Lincoln."

In Wilson's third installment, Victorio's War (Orca $12.95), Jim is an army scout in a war to force Victorio's Apaches onto a reservation, far from their traditional lands. Captured by his nemesis Ghost Moon and forced to flee with an Apache band of warriors, Jim is only saved from a slow and torturous death when his old friend Wellington adopts him as his son. Will he be branded a traitor? Or killed in a battle with the 10th US Cavalry or the Mexican Army? There's a mini-series in here somewhere, perhaps to be called Divided Loyalties.

Wilson's Failed Hope (Dundurn, 2012) links with two previous books, Desperate Glory (Napoleon, 2008) and Bitter Ashes (Napoleon, 2010), covering the history of the 20th century from 1914 to 1945.

A dinosaur dig on farmland owned by the hippie-ish mother of teenager Sam unearths more trouble than anyone bargained for in John Wilson's Bones (Orca Currents, 2013), for reluctant readers. Set in the Alberta badlands, near Drumheller, it offers surprisingly sophisticated dialogue and a frighteningly intelligent girlfriend named Annabel who often makes Sam feel inadequate. Ever-prolific, Wilson simultaneously refined contents from his adult book on the doomed Franklin Expedition for a junior audience version with Graves of Ice: The Lost Franklin Expedition, George Chambers The Northwest Passage, 1845 (Scholastic, 2014). Long fascinated with the Franklin Expedition, Wilson was prompted by the 2014 discovery of the Erebus to write a third mystery featuring Sam and Annabel, Lost (Orca, 2016), in which the come across a priceless artifact that could hold the answer to the Franklin expedition mystery. Lost is a follow-up in a trilogy that includes Bones and Stolen.

In Broken Arrow (Orca $10.95) Steve's plan for a relaxing vacation under the Spanish sun with his friend Laia, ends abruptly when he receives an email from his brother linking their grandfather to shadowy international plots involving nuclear bombs. Was Steve's grandpa a cold war era spy? In a desperate attempt to find out, Steve and Laia crack mysterious codes, confront violent Russian mobsters, dodge spies, unearth a bomb and avoid nudists. The deeper they look, the more Steve begins to wonder, whose side was Grandpa on?

In Wilson's follow up The Missing Skull Steve is none too thrilled to be visiting his grandfather at a remote lake in northern Ontario. He resents the fact that his twin brother, DJ, got to go to Central America instead. However, things become interesting when his Grandpa offers up the unsolved death of Tom Thomson and his stolen skull. This is a mystery suited for aspiring detective Steve as he follows a trail of clues set up by his Grandpa in a game of intrigue that leads to Steve's own adventure.

In a series for young adults, John Wilson imagines the bloody trenches of WWI through the eyes of 15-year-old Jim Hay for And In the Morning: Fields of Conflict-The Somme (Heritage $12.95) As a boy, he impatiently waits for the day he can join the men, march off to war and fight for his country. To Jim, war will be a glorious adventure filled with acts of courage and heroic quests. When his big moment for enlistment arrives, following his father's death in battle and his mother's nervous breakdown, Jim leaps at the opportunity to escape from the realities of life. And In the Morning reveals how naive dreams of glory can quickly be obliterated by the ugliness and death at the core of war's reality. Jim's longing for adventure is quickly replaced by a battle to survive.

John Wilson revisits World World I for his 40th book, A Dangerous Game (Doubleday, 2016), which pays tribute to the resistance and spy network in Belgium called Le Dame Blanche. This name 'The White Lady' was derived from a legend that predicted the fall of the German monarchy would occur with the appearance of a woman dressed all in white. By the end of the First World War, there were an estimated 13,000 agents in this underground resistance network, including many girls and women. His protagonist is a teenaged student nurse, Manon, who enjoys cycling into beautiful Bruges. After she becomes a conduit for information to the British, she uncovers crucial details about where deadly German weaponry is stored--only to discover that innocent people are being killed on both sides of the front. Always realistic and well-researched, Wilson's novels for young readers about both World Wars are not dumbed-down or schmaltzy; rather they are rooted in facts and documentary realism. This one is dedicated to Violette Szabo, a real spy from the Second World War who, at age twenty-three, was executed at Ravensbruck concentration camp in February, 1945.

ARRIVAL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: 1991

CITY OF RESIDENCE: Lantzville

EMPLOYMENT OTHER THAN WRITING: occasional teaching

AWARDS: Shortlisted for Sheila A. Egoff Award, Geoffrey Bilson and Norma Fleck Awards

BOOKS:

The Third Act (Orca, 2018) $14.95 978-14598-1967-2
Gold (Orca, 2017) $9.95 978-1-4598-1481-3
A Dangerous Game (Doubleday, 2016) $14.99 978-0-385-68307-4
The Missing Skull (Orca, 2016) $9.95 978-1-45981-1584
Lost (Orca, 2016) $9.95 9781459811959
And In the Morning: Fields of Conflict-The Somme, 1916 (Heritage House, 2014) $12.95 978-1-772030-14-3
Broken Arrow - The Seven Sequels (Orca, 2014) $10.95 9781459805408
Wings of War (Doubleday, 2014) $12.99 978-0-385-67830-8
Bones (Orca, 2014) $9.95 9781459806986
Graves of Ice: The Lost Franklin Expedition, George Chambers The Northwest Passage, 1845 (Scholastic, 2014) $14.99 978-1-4431-0794-5
Stolen (Orca, 2013) $9.95 978-1-4598-0375-6
Victorio's War (Orca, 2012) $12.95 9781554698820
Lost Cause (Orca, 2012) $9.95 9781554699445
Failed Hope (Dundurn, 2012) $18.99 978-1459703452
Victorio's War (Orca, 2012) $12.95 9781554698820 (Wilson's 32nd title for juveniles, teens and adults)
Ghost Moon (Orca, 2011). $12.95 978-1-551469-270-5
Shot at Dawn (Scholastic, 2011) 978-0-545-98595-6 $14.99
Written in Blood (Orca, 2010)
Grail: The Heretic's Secret, Book II (Key Porter, 2010)
Bitter Ashes: The Story of WWII (Napoleon, 2010)
And in the Morning (Key Porter, 2010, previously published by Kids Can Press, 2003)
Crusade: The Heretic's Secret, Book 1 (Key Porter, 2009)
Death on the River (Orca, 2009)
Ghost Mountains and Vanished Oceans: North America from Birth to Middle-Age, with Ron Clowes (Key Porter, 2009)
Lost in Spain (Key Porter, 2009, previously published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2000)
Where Soldiers Lie (Key Porter, 2008)
Desperate Glory: The Story of WWI (Napoleon, 2008)
The Alchemist's Dream (Key Porter, 2007)
Where Soldiers Lie (Key Porter, 2006)
Red Goodwin (Ronsdale Press, 2006)
Four Steps to Death (Kids Can Press, 2005)
Battle Scars (Kids Can Press, 2005)
The Flags of War (Kids Can Press, 2004)
Dancing Elephants and Floating Continents: The Story of Canada Beneath Your Feet (Key Porter, 2003)
Flames of the Tiger (Kids Can Press, 2003)
Adrift in Time (Ronsdale, 2003)
Discovering the Arctic: The Story of John Rae (Napoleon. 2003)
Ghosts of James Bay (Beach Holme, 2001, now available through Dundurn)
Righting Wrongs: The Story of Norman Bethune (Napoleon, 2001)
John Franklin: Traveller on Undiscovered Seas (XYZ, 2001, now available through Dundurn)
Norman Bethune: A Life of Passionate Conviction (XYZ, 1999, now available through Dundurn)
North With Franklin: The Lost Journals of James Fitzjames (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1999)
Weet Alone (Napoleon, 1999)
Weet's Quest (Napoleon, 1997)
Across Frozen Seas (Beach Holme, 1997, now available through Dundurn)
Weet (Napoleon, 1995)

blog: http://johnwilson-author.blogspot.com

[Alan Twigg / BCBW 2018] "Kidlit" "War" "Biography"