Sylvia McNicoll

Born in Ajax, Sylvia McNicoll (pseudonym Genna Dare ) grew up in Montreal, Quebec where she received her BA in English with a minor in Economics from Concordia University. She began her writing career with adult short stories and household tips that were published in women's magazines, and moved on to freelance articles for Burlington local newspapers. Her friend and published author, Gisela Sherman, convinced her to take a children's writing course by Paul Kropp at Sheridan College. It was under his guidance that she wrote her first book "Blueberries and Whipped Cream" as a class project. Nine published books later she returned to Sheridan College to teach creative writing for a decade. She also edited "Today's Parent Toronto" for eight years.

Among her award winning published works are:

Project disaster, illustrated by Brian Boyd (Scholastic Canada, 1990) – Winner of Our Choice, 1990-91

The big race! Illustrated by Susan Gardos (Scholastic Canada, 1996) – winner of Our Choice, 1996-97

Jump Start, illustrated by Janet Wilson (Collier Macmillan Canada, 1989) – winner of Our Choice, 1989-90

Bringing Up Beauty (Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1994) – winner of Our choice, 1995-96; Silver Birch Award, 1996; Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award, 1997

Caught in a Lie (Scholastic Canada, 2000) – winner of Explora-Toy award, 2001