O'Dell Scott
“Places I have known, creatures I have loved are in Island of the Blue Dolphins…”--Scott O’Dell, “Newberry Award Acceptance” Speech, Horn Book, August, 1961 Scott O’Dell, an award winning author of more than twenty books, was a naturalist who drew on his own experiences as a boy growing up in a rural environment to write historical fiction for children. Born to railway employee Bennett Mason O’Dell on Terminal Island, May 23, 1898, O’Dell spent his youth roaming the primitive coastal communities of Southern California where his father was stationed. His stories are a collection of detailed information of local geography, plant and wildlife gleaned from a childhood spent in close association with nature: Wherever we went, it was into frontier country, like Los Angeles. There was San Pedro which is a part of Los Angeles. And Rattlesnake Island (Terminal Island), across the bay from San Pedro, where we lived in a house on stilts and the waves came up and washed under us every day and ships went by…(Commire 112) O’Dell spent his days exploring waterways and tide-pools from San Pedro, north to Santa Barbara and his much beloved Channel Islands. His youthful adventures included appropriating Oregon
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Approximate Word count = 1767
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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