Sally Watson

Biography

Sally Watson was born in Seattle, Washington and is an alumna of Reed College. She began writing fiction in 1953; while doing so she worked for Great Books and co-wrote the audio-visual reading course, Listen and Learn with Phonics. In 1964 she moved to England, where she lived for 24 years, writing meticulously researched juvenile historical fiction featuring feisty and adventurous heroines, such as Jade, published by Henry Holt and Company. Her other activities included Scottish highland dance, teaching Judo, in which she earned a black belt, and Mensa International. The publishing climate for juvenile fiction eventually changed, and by the mid-1970s her books had gone out of print.

Sally eventually returned to the United States, taking up residence in Santa Rosa, California, where she became active in feral cat rescue organizations. All the while her fans were pleading for her books to be republished; eventually Image Cascade reprinted many of the novels. Sally has continued to add to her English family tree series and has also published several young adult novels set in Ancient Egypt. Her most recent books are Tailwavers, a story for all cat lovers, told in part through a series of letters, The Next Pharaoh, a novel continuing her Egyptian history, Return of the Exiles, set during the rebirth of Israel, and Dance to a Different Piper, a memoir covering the first 30 years of her long and productive life.

Further information about Sally can be found in Something About the Author.

Honors

To Build a Land won the Woodward Annual Award in 1959.

Witch of the Glens was on the Horn Book Magazine honor list in 1963.

The Mukhtar's Children was named as a Horn Book Magazine Fanfare Best Book of the Year in 1968 [1].

Magic at Wychwood was recommended by Library Journal in 1970.

Linnet was a Junior Literary Guild selection in 1971.