Byars, Betsy (1928-2020), was an American author of children’s books. Her fiction blends humor, psychological insight, and sensitive explorations of modern social problems. She won the 1971 Newbery Medal for The Summer of the Swans (1970), a story about a girl who is searching for her younger brother, who is intellectually disabled.
Byars wrote several series for young readers. She introduced the Blossom family in The Not-Just-Anybody Family (1986). The sisters May-May and Rose first appeared in The Golly Sisters Go West, set in the American West of the 1800’s. Byars also wrote about the adventures of a boy named Bingo Brown, beginning with The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown (1988). A 13-year-old girl named Herculeah Jones solves mysteries in a series that begins with The Dark Stairs (1994). Byars’s other children’s books include Trouble River (1969), The TV Kid (1976), The Pinballs (1977), The Cartoonist (1978), Cracker Johnson (1985), The Joy Boys (1996), and Disappearing Acts (1998).
Betsy Alice Cromer was born on Aug. 7, 1928, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1950, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Queens College of Charlotte (now Queens University of Charlotte). That year, she also married Edward Ford Byars, a college engineering teacher. She began writing magazine articles in the 1950’s. Her first book, Clementine, was published in 1962. Betsy Byars died on Feb. 26, 2020.
