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Thursday, August 28, 2025

Just an entertaining good time


“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.” – Kenneth Oppel


Born in Port Alberni, Canada in August of 1967, Oppel has had a distinguished career as a children’s and young adult writer.  He holds the distinction of winning both Canada’s Governor General's Literary Prize and the American Library Association’s (ALA) Printz Honor Award twice, for the books Airborn and The Times.

 

Oppel, who now lives in Toronto, started writing as a teen, penning a humorous story about a boy addicted to video games, leading to his first book Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure published just as he was starting college.  While at the University of Toronto he wrote his second bestseller, The Live-Forever Machine, in a creative writing class.    His more recent works include Skybreaker, named the ALA’s Best Book for Young Adults and his 2022 novel Ghostlight.  


While his books are popular reads, only one has made it onto film -- a TV show based on his Silverwing series.  He thinks it’s a rare possibility for books to become movies.

 

“Realistically,” he said, “the chance of any book becoming a film is (very) slim.”

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