Background
Kenneth Oppel was born on August 31, 1967, in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. He is a son of Wilfred Oppel, a lawyer, and Audrey Oppel (maiden name Young), a visual artist.
27 King's College Cir, Toronto, ON M5S, Canada
The Front Campus of the University of Toronto where Kenneth Oppel received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and cinema in 1989.
3400 Richmond Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 4P5, Canada
Kenneth Oppel signing a book for one of his young admirers from St. Michaels University School in Victoria, British Columbia.
3400 Richmond Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 4P5, Canada
Kenneth Oppel speaking for the students of St. Michaels University School in Victoria, British Columbia.
Kenneth Oppel
Kenneth Oppel reading.
Kenneth Oppel. Photo by Martin Chamberland.
(For as long as he can remember, Paul has looked after his...)
For as long as he can remember, Paul has looked after his younger, weaker brother Sam. But when Sam leaves home to work as a research assistant in Watertown, he disappears into the dark folds of the city's noxious slum.
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Water-Zone-Kenneth-Oppel-ebook/dp/B002OMZTVW/?tag=2022091-20
1992
(Shade is a young silverwing bat, the runt of his colony. ...)
Shade is a young silverwing bat, the runt of his colony. But he's determined to prove himself on the long, dangerous winter migration to Hibernaculum, millions of wingbeats to the south.
https://www.amazon.com/Silverwing-Trilogy-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/1416949984/?tag=2022091-20
1997
(One man's blood could hold the key to curing cancer. That...)
One man's blood could hold the key to curing cancer. That man is a death row killer. And he'll kill again rather than give it to you. How badly do you want it?
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Cure-Novel-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/0786866977/?tag=2022091-20
2000
(A swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and ...)
A swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson shows an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.
https://www.amazon.com/Airborn-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/0060531827/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(The Boundless, the greatest train ever built, is on its m...)
The Boundless, the greatest train ever built, is on its maiden voyage across the country, and first-class passenger Will Everett is about to embark on the adventure of his life!
https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/1442472898/?tag=2022091-20
2014
(The compelling story illustrated by a celebrated artist J...)
The compelling story illustrated by a celebrated artist Jon Klassen explores disability and diversity, fears and dreams, and what ultimately makes a family.
https://www.amazon.com/Nest-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/1481432338/?tag=2022091-20
2015
(The hunt for a dinosaur skeleton buried in the Badlands, ...)
The hunt for a dinosaur skeleton buried in the Badlands, bitter rivalries, and a forbidden romance come together in this “fantastic” novel that’s Romeo and Juliet meets Indiana Jones.
https://www.amazon.com/Every-Hidden-Thing-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/1481464175/?tag=2022091-20
2016
(A brilliantly funny story about how a little ink splot ch...)
A brilliantly funny story about how a little ink splot changes a family forever. Perfect for those who love Hoot, Holes, or Frindle and sure to be a hit with kids everywhere!
https://www.amazon.com/Inkling-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/152477281X/?tag=2022091-20
2018
Kenneth Oppel was born on August 31, 1967, in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. He is a son of Wilfred Oppel, a lawyer, and Audrey Oppel (maiden name Young), a visual artist.
As a young reader, Kenneth Oppel liked such distinguished Canadian authors as a short story writer Alice Munro and children’s novelist Kit Pearson, and was inspired by L. M. Montgomery’s ‘Emily of New Moon’ series. He related strongly to Emily’s dream of becoming a published writer and by grade seven determined that he, too, would write.
As a pre-teen, Oppel had a strong interest in Dungeons and Dragons. By the time he was fourteen, however, that interest had evolved into a passion for video games.
After graduating from high school in Victoria, British Columbia, he entered the University of Toronto to study English literature and cinema. Fascinated by his cinema studies, Oppel began making student films. When, in his final undergraduate year, he turned again to writing children’s books, it was inevitable that his film experience would influence his literary style.
He graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Kenneth Oppel definitely got off to an earlier start than most authors did. Passioned for video games, he wrote his first book, ‘Colin’s Fantastic Video Adventure’, when he was fourteen. A family friend who knew British children’s author Roald Dahl agreed to show him the story. Dahl was impressed enough to pass it on to his own literary agent. The agent agreed to represent the book and promptly sold it to publishers in London and New York City. The stylistic forerunner of the Bad Case of series of junior novels received good reviews from critics.
Oppel soon learned that such early success is not always an unmitigated blessing. He quickly wrote another book for children which was rejected by all publishers. In 1989, Oppel worked as an associate editor at Scholastic Canada, Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Under the impression of his cinema studies at the University of Toronto, he produced his second children's novel, ‘The Live-Forever Machine’, written for an independent studies course in creative writing. It saw the publication in 1990.
The techniques and themes introduced in ‘The Live-Forever Machine’ continue to surface in Oppel’s books for young adults. Readers can count on quickly spliced scenes, flashbacks, an obsession with the past and immortality, and young protagonists struggling to decipher their place in the world. ‘Dead Water Zone’, the author’s next novel, drew on and further developed the complexities of scene and character introduced in the previous publication.
In spite of his success in the field of children’s literature, Oppel hasn’t confined his writing exclusively to children’s books. He has also gained a reputation for screenwriting. His screenplay for ‘The Live-Forever Machine’ was optioned for a movie even before the book was published. An adult screenplay, ‘Virtual Murder’, about a virtual reality theme park in which nothing is legal or illegal, was optioned by a Hollywood film producer in 1993. From 1995 to 1996, Kenneth Oppel edited Books for Young People of Quill & Quire magazine in Toronto, Ontario.
A year after he left the post, the first book from ‘Silverwing’ trilogy was published. In the series, Oppel introduces yet another world, one of the bats.
Since leaving a job at a children’s book publisher, Kenneth Oppel has devoted himself to writing full time. In 2000, he issued an adult fiction book ‘Devil's Cure’, and then came back to young adult literature continuing the ‘Silverwing’ series. The subsequent years, the author has published such volumes as ‘Airborn’, ‘Skybreaker’, and ‘Starclimber’. The latest books by Oppel include ‘Inkling’ and ‘The Nest’.
(A swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and ...)
2005(The hunt for a dinosaur skeleton buried in the Badlands, ...)
2016(The Boundless, the greatest train ever built, is on its m...)
2014(The compelling story illustrated by a celebrated artist J...)
2015(The humorous nautical tall tale featuring a feisty, indep...)
2000(For as long as he can remember, Paul has looked after his...)
1992(An absorbing novel about a teen boy whose scientist paren...)
2010(A brilliantly funny story about how a little ink splot ch...)
2018(The story of Emma who found one day a huge crate with an ...)
1995(An exhilarating journey to the stars or a heartbreaking b...)
2008(Shade is a young silverwing bat, the runt of his colony. ...)
1997(One man's blood could hold the key to curing cancer. That...)
2000(A legendary ghost ship. An incredible treasure. A death-d...)
2005
Quotations:
"I think good art should always be entertaining, or at least give pleasure of some sort. And my chief goal as a writer has always been to tell a good story and give my readers a good time."
"We used to flock to watch gladiators, public torture and executions. In more recent times, our appetite for mortal violence has been sublimated in sports, photorealistic video games, film and literature."
"I'm cursed with this puritanical streak that makes me want everything to be about something. It's a terrible affliction."
"But chance runs like a river through all our lives, and being prepared for surprise is the best we can do."
Kenneth Oppel is a member of the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers, and of the Writers' Union of Canada.
Kenneth Oppel married a university professor Philippa Sheppard on September 8, 1990. She is a Shakespeare scholar and instructor at the University of Toronto.
Kenneth and Philippa have three children named Sophia Marie, Nate, and Julia.