Robert Sutherland

Robert Sutherland is one of Canada’s most successful Young Adult novelists, having brought out many books with publishers such as Scholastic and HarperCollins. His latest, Survivor’s Leave developed from his experience during WWII when he served as an anti-aircraft gunner on a Loch Class frigate (HMCS Loch Morlich). When his ship was in dry dock in London for repairs, he experienced the German V-1 bombing. His first literary success was a novel published in the Toronto Star Weekly in 1960. When he returned to writing in the 1980s he decided to follow advice he had received on rejection slips –‘suggest you try writing for teens’. He rewrote the story that had been published in the Star. Mystery at Black Rock Island, published by Scholastic, was an immediate success and was the first of five books about two teenagers named David and Sandy. He is the author of fourteen novels, some of which have been translated into French, Norwegian, Swedish, German and Korean. Robert now lives in Westport, Ontario.