Goodbye Ms. Ibbotson

Obituary: Eva Ibbotson

Oh, no! PW reports that author Eva Ibbotson has died.

In a career that spanned three decades, she wrote more than 20 novels for children and adults. Her first book, The Great Ghost Rescue, was published by Macmillan in the U.K. in 1975; she was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for 1979’s Which Witch?, and her novels Journey to the River Sea (2001) and The Star of Kazan (2004) received numerous awards and citations (the latter won the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Silver Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal).

Ibbottson’s latest book, The Ogre of Oglefort, was shortlisted for the 2010 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and is scheduled to be published in the U.S. by Dutton in summer 2011.

I read Journey to the River Sea only a couple of years ago, and was entranced by the sheer beauty of the writing. I have two more books of hers waiting for my Cybs reading to be done -- and I'll be searching out more and hanging on to them to read and reread them.

Thank you, Ms. Ibbotson.