Zilpha Keatley Snyder (May 11, 1927 – October 7, 2014) was an American author of books for children and young adults. Three of Snyder's works were named Newbery Honor books: The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and The Witches of Worm. She was most famous for writing adventure stories and fantasies.

Biography

Snyder earned a BA from Whittier College in 1948, and also attended the University of California at Berkeley from 1958 to 1960. Her obituary in The Washington Post notes, "Mrs. Snyder displayed almost uncanny insight into the intellectual, emotional and imaginative lives of boys and girls, a perspective gained in part through her years as a schoolteacher", noting that while she accompanied her husband "on his careers in the military and in music, she taught at schools in New York, Washington State, Alaska and California." After they settled in Berkeley, she taught the upper grades of elementary school.

She began writing fiction in the 1960s and worked with influential children's book editor Jean Karl on her debut novel Season of Ponies, which Atheneum Books published in 1964.

After having written the novel Below the Root and its two sequels, Snyder was heavily involved in the 1984 Below the Root computer game that is set in the Green Sky universe, occurring after the events of the final novel, Until the Celebration. She worked with programmer Dale Disharoon on several aspects of the game including the map and characters.

Zilpha Keatley Snyder died at the age of 87 in 2014 from a stroke in San Francisco.

In 1998, Snyder was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree from Whittier College.

Her manuscripts are archived in the Children's Literature Research Collections of the Kerlan Collection, at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.

Published books

===The Egypt Game series === <!-- series name from ISFDB -->

  • The Egypt Game (1967) – Newbery Honor Book

Castle Court Kids series

  • The Diamond War (1995)
  • The Box and the Bone (1995)
  • Ghost Invasion (1995)
  • Secret Weapons (1995)

Gib series

  • Gib Rides Home (1998)
  • Gib and the Gray Ghost (2000)

William S series

  • William S and the Great Escape (2009)
  • William's Midsummer Dreams (2011) – her last book published.

Other

  • Season of Ponies (Atheneum Books, 1964) – her first book
  • Eyes in the Fishbowl (1968)
  • Today Is Saturday (1969) - poetry
  • The Changeling (1970)
  • Zilpha K. Snyder webpage