Dalton, Annie 1948-

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DALTON, Annie 1948-

PERSONAL: Born January, 1948, in Dorset, England; married Andrew F. Stimson (a zoologist), June 29, 1979; children: two daughters and one son. Education: Attended University of Warwick, 1967-70.

ADDRESSES: Home—Norfolk, England. Agent—Janice Swanson, Curtis Brown, 4th Fl., Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4JP, England.

CAREER: Writer. Worked variously as a waitress, cleaner, factory worker, and writer-in-residence at a prison.

AWARDS, HONORS: Carnegie Medal commendation, British Library Association, 1989, for Night Maze, and 1991, for The Real Tilly Beany; Nottinghamshire Award, 1991, for The Afterdark Princess; Sheffield Children's Book Award shortlist, for Naming the Dark and Swan Sister.

WRITINGS:

The Real Tilly Beany, illustrated by Kate Aldous, Methuen (London, England), 1991.

Tilly Beany and the Best Friend Machine, illustrated by Kate Aldous, Methuen (London, England), 1993.

Ugly Mug, illustrated by Kate Aldous, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1994.

Tilly Beany Saves the World, Methuen (London, England), 1997.

Space Baby, illustrated by David Axtell, Methuen (London, England), 1998.

Dozy Rosy, illustrated by Brett Hudson, Egmont (London, England), 1999.

Aliens at Paradise High, illustrated by David Kearney, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2000.

The Frog Files, illustrated by Brett Hudson, Mammoth (London, England), 2000.

Friday Forever, illustrated by Brett Hudson, Barrington Stoke (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2001.

The Jam Jar Genie, illustrated by Brett Hudson, Methuen (London, England), 2001.

Isabel: Taking Wing ("American Girl: Girls of Many Lands" series), illustrated by Mark Elliot, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

Contributor to Love Them, Hate Them: Stories of Brothers and Sisters, edited by Tony Bradman, Methuen (London, England), 1991.

FANTASY

Out of the Ordinary, Methuen (London, England), 1988, Harper (New York, NY), 1990.

Night Maze, Methuen (London, England), 1989.

The Witch Rose, illustrated by Kate Aldous, Methuen (London, England), 1990.

The Afterdark Princess ("Afterdark" trilogy), illustrated by Kate Aldous, Methuen (London, England), 1990.

The Alpha Box, Methuen (London, England), 1991.

Demon-Spawn, illustrated by Jo Worth, Blackie (London, England), 1991.

Swan Sister, Methuen (London, England), 1992.

Naming the Dark, Methuen (London, England), 1992.

The Dream Snatcher ("Afterdark" trilogy), Methuen (London, England), 1998.

(Reteller) The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories, illustrated by Belinda Downes, DK Publishing (London, England, and New York, NY), 1999.

The Midnight Museum ("Afterdark" trilogy), Methuen (London, England), 2001.

"ANGELS UNLIMITED" SERIES

Winging It (also see below), Collins (London, England), 2001, Avon (New York, NY), 2002.

Losing the Plot (also see below), Collins (London, England), 2001, Avon (New York, NY), 2002.

Flying High (also see below), Collins (London, England), 2001, Avon (New York, NY), 2002.

Calling the Shots (also see below), Collins (London, England), 2002, Avon (New York, NY), 2003.

Fogging Over (also see below), Collins (London, England), 2002.

The Heavenly Collection (includes Winging It, Losing the Plot, and Flying High), Collins (London, England), 2002.

Fighting Fit (also see below), Collins (London, England), 2003.

Making Waves, Collins (London, England), 2003.

Budding Star, Collins (London, England), in press.

The Cosmic Collection (includes Calling the Shots, Fogging Over, and Fighting Fit), Collins (London, England), in press.

ADAPTATIONS: Tilly Beany Saves the World and Swan Sister were adapted as audiobooks.

SIDELIGHTS: Annie Dalton crafts fantasy novels for young readers that take "the traditional motif of having a young protagonist as the descendent or incarnation of the 'powers of light' . . . a step further," according to St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers essayist Andy Sawyer. Dalton's novels, which include Out of the Ordinary and Swan Sister, were praised by Sawyer as "strong fantasies for a wide variety of age-groups, with vivid depictions of magic which bring the under-currents of childhood confusion and adolescent longing closer to the surface." Praising Dalton for making "an explicit and consistent effort" to make her books appealing to reluctant readers traditionally intimidated by the fantasy genre, Jessica Yates noted in the St. James Guide to Children's Writers that the author's books are "optimistic: supernatural encounters go some way to solve her characters' problems, in the tradition of [nineteenth-century fantasy writer Edith] Nesbit and Diana Wynne Jones."

Born in England, in 1948, Dalton studied art before becoming an author. Her first book, Out of the Ordinary, was published in England in 1988 and appeared in U.S. bookstores in 1990. The novel's protagonist is fifteen-year-old Molly Gurney, a girl who helps her single mom by helping around the house, unlike her two brothers. Bored with her lot in life, Molly writes a pretend advertisement for a more exciting job involving travel and danger. To her surprise, she is soon approached by beings from a parallel universe who inform her that she possesses special powers and propel her into a series of adventures involving princes and evil wizards. Reviewing Out of the Ordinary for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Orson Scott Card praised Dalton for imbuing the fantasy genre with "some new shapes, without ever having to raise her protagonist out of her bleak working-class environment." Dalton "successfully employs elements of both magic and realism" to show love's ability "to combat even the darkest forces," added a Publishers Weekly contributor.

More fantasy novels from Dalton include Night Maze, the story of a young teen who is sent to live with distant relatives in a crumbling mansion, only to discover that his new home is haunted by an ancient curse. With high praise for the sophisticated language used throughout this 1989 novel, a Junior Bookshelf contributor dubbed Night Maze a "dense, imaginationstretching, wholesome, and loving fantasy." The Alpha Box finds two teens, one a musician and the other a troubled girl, destined to join forces to fight evil in a novel "rich in its character drawing, complicated but clever in its construction, rooted in mankind's history but totally modern," enthused a Junior Bookshelf contributor.

Dalton's "Afterdark" trilogy of fantasy novels begins with 1990's The Afterdark Princess, the story of a shy boy named Joe Quail who enters the Land of After-dark and goes on a quest to rescue his babysitter—now a princess—from the Emperor of Nightfall. Joe's adventures continue in The Dream Snatcher, as he is joined by friends Kevin and Flora to solve the puzzle of why dreams are stolen from children, and in The Midnight Museum, the children return to the sinister Land of Afterdark, this time to determine the cause of mysterious happenings at their new school. The After-dark Princess was dubbed "superbly crafted" and "well structured" by a Books for Keeps reviewer who noted that its simple plot "belies the interwoven layers of meanings." Praising The Dream Snatcher for its "exotic locations and rich characterization," a Books for Keeps contributor commended the entire "After-dark" trilogy for presenting "an intriguing view of story and characters 'growing up' and growing out of and into styles of fantasy." "Dalton has the rare gift of writing with crystal simplicity," added School Librarian contributor Gillian Cross in praise of The After-dark Princess, "and she deserves a wide audience."

In addition to teen fantasies, Dalton has also penned books for younger readers. A young boy finds his family situation improve immensely after the arrival of a strange young child in 1999's Space Baby, while in The Jam Jar Genie, young Tyler Rapido promises that his mother will make mountains of marmalade for his school fundraiser but is forced to rely on a novice genie after Mom declines. Dalton's The Real Tilly Beany introduces readers to a five year old who loves to play dress-up. When Tilly refuses to give up her Cinderella costume, her parents realize that she is a budding actress; they enroll her in drama class where she excels. In Tilly Beany and the Best Friend Machine, Tilly tries to create a computer-dating-type machine that will convince the new girl in school to be her new best friend after she loses her old one. Examining elementary-age friendships, Dalton "shows that, however desirable a best friend is, all kinds of friendships are possible," commented Alan Medway in School Librarian. Tilly Beany Saves the World finds the nowsix-year-old girl determined to save the world which she believes is threatened by a hole in the sky.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Children's Writers, fifth edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2000, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories, p. 1019.

Books for Keeps, July, 1992, review of The Afterdark Princess, p. 12; March, 1993, review of The Alpha Box, p. 12; November, 1993, p. 28; May, 1994, review of Naming the Dark, p. 15; September, 1994, Steve Rosson, review of Ugly Mug, p. 11; May, 1999, review of Space Baby, p. 23; September, 2001, review of "Afterdark" trilogy, p. 27.

Books for Your Children, summer, 1991, T. Massey, review of Night Maze, p. 24.

Junior Bookshelf, October, 1989, review of Night Maze, pp. 235-236; August, 1990, review of The Witch Rose, p. 173; August, 1991, review of The Alpha Box, pp. 184-185; August, 1992, review of Swan Sister, p. 152; October, 1992, review of The Real Tilly Beany, pp. 196-197; April, 1994, review of Tilly Beany and the Best Friend Machine, pp. 55-56; August, 1994, review of Naming the Dark, pp. 149-150; October, 1994, review of Ugly Mug, p. 169.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1993, Orson Scott Card, review of Out of the Ordinary, pp. 55-56.

Observer (London, England), April 15, 1992, p. 62.

Publishers Weekly, July 27, 1990, review of Out of the Ordinary, p. 235.

School Librarian, November, 1990, Maureen Kincaid Porter, review of The Witch Rose, p. 146; February, 1991, Gillian Cross, review of The Afterdark Princess, p. 22; February, 1992, Pauline Long, review of The Real Tilly Beany, p. 19; August, 1992, Sarah Reed, review of Swan Sister, pp. 100-101; November, 1993, Alan Medway, review of Tilly Beany and the Best Friend Machine, p. 154; November, 1994, Jessica Yates, review of Naming the Dark, p. 162; February, 1995, Jane Inglis, review of Ugly Mug, p. 21; spring, 1999, Chris Brown, review of The Dream Snatcher, p. 22; summer, 2001, Frances Ball, review of The Jam Jar Genie, p. 74; winter, 2001, Sarah Merrett, review of The Midnight Museum, p. 192.

School Library Journal, October, 1990, Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, review of Out of the Ordinary, p. 140; July, 1994, p. 68; January, 2000, Margaret A. Change, review of The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories, p. 118.

Times Educational Supplement, December 24, 1999, Adele Geras, review of The Starlight Princess andOther Princess Stories, p. 26; November 16, 2001, Michael Thorn, review of Friday Forever, p. 20.

Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1990, p. 295; June, 1992, review of Out of the Ordinary, p. 143.