Oppel << OH puhl >>, Kenneth (1967-…), is a Canadian author of books for children and young adults. Oppel specializes in fantasy and horror fiction. He became known for his “Silverwing” series of fantasy novels that feature a group of brave young bats. The bats heroically battle the forces of evil in a mythical underworld. The original trilogy (three related books) consists of Silverwing (1997), Sunwing (1999), and Firewing (2002). A fourth book in the series, Darkwing (2007), deals with events before the trilogy.
In 2004, Oppel won the Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s literature for the young adult fantasy novel Airborn (2004). The award is the most prestigious prize in Canada for children’s literature. In 2011, Oppel’s young adult novel Half Brother (2010) won both the Book of the Year for Children Award and the Young Adult Book Award from the Canadian Library Association (CLA). The novel tells the story of a boy whose life is turned upside down when his scientist parents introduce a chimpanzee into the family. The CLA’s Book of the Year for Children Award was an award given annually to children’s books in both English and French. The CLA’s Young Adult Book Award honored an author of an outstanding Canadian English-language work of fiction with appeal to readers between the ages of 13 and 18.
Oppel also wrote the children’s fantasy series that came to be called “Barnes and the Brains.” The series began in 1993 with A Bad Case of Ghosts. Oppel’s “Matt Cruse” young adult fantasy series began with Airborn. Oppel began a science fiction thriller series about an invasion by alien plant life with Bloom (2020).
Oppel has written many other children’s books, including the psychological thriller The Nest (2015), illustrated by the Canadian-born illustrator Jon Klassen. The Nest won the CLA’s Book of the Year for Children Award in 2016. Oppel also wrote the young adult fiction books The Boundless (2014), Every Hidden Thing (2016), and Ghostlight (2022), as well as the adult fiction book The Devil’s Cure (2000). In addition, Oppel co-wrote the screenplay for the animated motion picture Kaena: The Prophecy (2003).
Oppel was born on Aug. 31, 1967, in Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He received a B.A. degree in cinema studies and English from the University of Toronto. His first book, Colin’s Fantastic Video Adventure, was published in 1985.
