Eric Walters


Eric Robert Walters, is a Canadian author of young adult fiction and picture books. As of January 2014, Eric Walters has written 92 books.

Background

Walters was an elementary school student at Vista Heights Public School in Streetsville, Ontario. In 1993, he was teaching a grade 5 class in which many of the students were reluctant readers and writers. To encourage them, Walters wrote his first novel, Stand Your Ground. The novel was set in the school and included features from the community and the names of many of his students. He has since written more than 70 novels for young adults.
He is a three-time winner of both the Ontario Association Silver Birch and Red Maple Awards – voted on by over 100,000 students throughout the province of Ontario. His books have been translated and published in many countries.

Personal life

Eric Walters was born and raised in Toronto and resides in Guelph, Ontario, with his wife Anita. They have three adult children, Christina, Nick and Julia.
Walters tries to experience the subjects he plans to write about. In April 2010 he walked across the Sahara Desert before writing Just Deserts. With his son, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for Between Heaven and Earth. He played with tigers before writing Tiger by the Tail.
In addition, Walters founded the Creation of Hope, an organization providing care for orphans in the Mbooni district of Kenya. Presently more than 400 orphans are being provided with services that include food, school fees, uniforms, tools, beds, livestock, and the construction of two children's residences in the town of Kikima.

Awards

Walters's works have won or been nominated for the following awards:
BookAward
The Pole
STARS
  • Silver Birch Award, Ontario Library Association, 1997
  • Blue Heron Book Award, Blue Heron Books, 1997
  • Children's Choice Award, Canadian Children's Book Centre
    • Trapped in Ice
  • Silver Birch Award, 1997
  • CBC Choice Award, 1997
  • Ruth Schwartz Award nomination, 1997
    • War of the Eagles
  • Ruth Schwartz Award, 1998
  • CBC Choice Award, New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age designation, 1998
  • Canadian Library Book of the Year Honour selection, 1998
    • Diamonds in the Rough
  • CBC Choice Award, 1998
  • Red Cedar Award nomination, 1998
    • The Hydrofoil Mystery
  • Canadian Library Association Honour Book designation, 1998
    • Caged EagIes
  • CLA Book of the Year shortlist, 2000
  • UNESCO Honour Selection designation, 2003
    • Rebound
  • Red Maple Award, 2002
  • Snow Willow Award, 2002
    • The Bully Boys
  • CBC Choice Award, 2002
  • Red Maple Award finalist, 2002
    • Camp X
  • Silver Birch Award, 2003
  • Arthur Ellis Award shortlist, 2003
    • Run
  • Torgi Award, 2003

    • Published works

    Fiction