Betsy Byars Birthday

August 7 1928


Betsy Byars was born August 7, 1928 in Charlotte, North Carolina and some of her books are set in that area. She didn't start writing until her children were teenagers. Her first book, Clementine, was rejected by many publishers before it was accepted.

Betsy Byars has written over sixty books for young people (betsybyars.com/books.html). Her first published in 1962 and since then she has published regularly. She has won many awards. Among them are the Newbery Medal in 1971 for her novel The Summer of the Swans, the American Book Award in 1981 for The Night Swimmers, The Edgar (for the best mystery for young people) in 1992 for Wanted..Mud Blossom and the Regina Medal by the Catholic Library Association for the body of her work.


Betsy lives with her husband Ed on an air strip in South Carolina. They are both pilots, and the bottom floor of their house is a hangar so they can taxi out and take off, almost from their front yard. The top floor of the house? Betsy's studio!