Polly Horvath

Polly Horvath (born January 30, 1957 in Kalamazoo, Michigan)^[1] is an American-Canadian author of novels for children and young adults. She won the 2003 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The Canning Season, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.^[2] In 2010, Horvath received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People.^[3]

Polly Horvath
Born	(1957-01-30) January 30, 1957 (age 68) Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Author
Nationality	American-Canadian
Notable works	Everything on a Waffle The Canning Season
Notable awards	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize (2002, 2008, 2009) National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2003) Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People (2010) TD Canadian Children's Literature Award (2013)
Spouse	Arnold Keller
Children	2

Biography

Horvath was born 30 January 1957 in Kalamazoo, Michigan^[4] to John Anthony and Betty Ann Horvath.^[1] Horvath began writing at the age of eight.^[1]

She attended the Canadian College of Dance in Toronto and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York City.^[4] She lived in New York City and Montreal before settling on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia.^[5]

Horvath once declared, "I don't have that much fun writing them. I have the most fun when I'm on the last page."

She is married to Arnold Keller, a professor, with whom she has two daughters: Emily Willa and Rebecca Avery Keller.^[1]

Awards and honors

In 2010, Horvath received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People,^[3] which is considered a top honour for Canadian children's book writers and illustrators.

Six of Horvath's books are Junior Library Guild selections: My One Hundred Adventures (2009),^[6] Northward to the Moon (2010),^[7] One Year in Coal Harbor (2013),^[8] The Night Garden (2017),^[9] Very Rich (2018),^[10] and Pine Island Home (2020).^[11]

Her books have also landed on many lists of the best books of the year:

• In 1999, The Horn Book Magazine named The Trolls one of the best children's fiction books of the year.^[12]
• In 2003, Horn Book Magazine named The Canning Season one of the best children's fiction books of the year.^[12]
• In 2004, Horn Book Magazine named The Pepins and Their Problems one of the best children's fiction books of the year.^[12]
• In 2008, Booklist and School Library Journal named My One Hundred Adventures one of the best children's books of the year.^[6]
• In 2013, School Library Journal named One Year in Coal Harbor one of the best children's books of the year.^[8]

Awards for Horvath's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1999	The Trolls	ALSC Notable Children's Book	Selection	[13]
		Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Fiction	Honor	[14]
		National Book Award for Young People's Literature	Finalist	[15][4]
2001	Everything on a Waffle	Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry	Honor	[14]
		Mr. Christie's Book Award: English, Ages 8 to 11	Winner	[16]
2002		ALSC Notable Children's Book	Selection	[17]
		Newbery Medal	Honor	[18][13]
		Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Winner	[19]
2003	The Canning Season	National Book Award for Young People's Literature	Winner	[4][20]
2004		ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults	Selection	[21]
		Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	Selection	[22]
		Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award	Winner	[23]
		Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
2006	The Vacation	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
2007		Chocolate Lily Young Readers’ Choice Award	Winner	[24]
2008	The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Winner	[25]
2009	My One Hundred Adventures	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Winner	[26]
2011	Northward to the Moon	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist
2013	One Year in Coal Harbor	Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize	Winner	[27]
		TD Canadian Children's Literature Award	Winner	[28]
2019	Very Rich	Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize	Finalist

Publications

• An Occasional Cow (1989)
• No More Cornflakes (1990)
• The Happy Yellow Car (1994)
• When the Circus Came to Town (1996)
• The Trolls (1999)
• Everything on a Waffle (2001)
• The Canning Season (2003)
• The Pepins and their Problems (2004)
• The Vacation (2005)
• The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane (2007)
• My One Hundred Adventures (2008)
• Northward to the Moon (2010)
• Mr. and Mrs. Bunny—Detectives Extraordinaire! (2012)
• One Year in Coal Harbor (2012)
• Lord and Lady Bunny—Almost Royalty! (2014)

See also