Hugh Brewster (born May 26, 1950, in London, England) is a Canadian writer of nonfiction books for children.
Biography Brewster was born May 26, 1950, in London, England to Ormond Macmillan and Anne Brewster. He has two older brothers and a younger sister. The family moved to Scotland when Brewster was two, then immigrated to Georgetown, Ontario in 1956.
Brewster received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in theatre from the University of Guelph. Following graduation, he was a founding writer for the LGBT magazine The Body Politic.Lara Purvis, "Body Politicker turned kids’ author gets nod from GG" . Xtra Magazine, January 20, 2008. He served as an editor with Scholastic Canada from 1972 to 1981, then continued as an editor with Scholastic in New York City from 1981 to 1984. Beginning in 1984, he worked as an editorial director as Madison Press Books in Toronto.
He published his first children's book, Anastasia's Album, in 1996.Val Ross, "Through the eyes of a Russian princess". The Globe and Mail, December 23, 1996.
Awards and honours +Awards for Brewster's writingYearTitleAwardResultRef.1997Anastasia's AlbumALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection1998Silver Birch AwardWinner1999Red Cedar Book AwardWinner2000882 ½ Amazing Answers to Your Questions about the TitanicQuick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult ReadersSelection2005On Juno BeachInformation Book AwardWinner2007Carnation, Lily, Lily, RoseGovernor General's Award for English-language children's literatureFinalistVanessa Farquharson, "Heavyweights vie for fiction prize; Two Islanders in the running for Governor General's Literary Awards". Victoria Times-Colonist, October 17, 2007.2008TD Canadian Children's Literature AwardFinalist2008At Vimy RidgeNorma Fleck AwardWinner2012Prisoner of DieppeHackmatack Children's Choice Award for English FictionWinner2015From Vimy to VictoryNorma Fleck AwardFinalistSilver Birch AwardNomineeTD Canadian Children's Literature AwardFinalist
Publications
The Complete Hoser's Handbook, Prentice-Hall Canada, 1983. Anastasia's Album: The Last Tsar's Youngest Daughter Tells Her Own Story, Hyperion, 1996. Inside the Titanic, Little, Brown and Company, 1997. 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions about the Titanic, with Laurie Coulter, paintings by Ken Marschall, Scholastic, 1998. To Be a Princess: The Fascinating Lives of Real Princesses, with Laurie Coulter, illustrated by Laurie McGaw, HarperCollins, 2001. On Juno Beach: Canada's D Day Heroes, Scholastic Canada, 2004. At Vimy Ridge: Canada's Greatest World War I Victory, Scholastic Canada, 2007. The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George, illustrated by Eric Velasquez, Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2006. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting, illustrated with paintings by John Singer Sargent, Kids Can Press, 2007. Breakout Dinosaurs: Canada's Coolest, Scariest Ancient Creatures Return!, with the curators of the Royal Ontario Museum, illustrated by Alan Barnard, Whitfield Editions, 2007. Dieppe: Canada's Darkest Day of World War II, Scholastic Canada, 2009. Dinosaurs in Your Backyard: The Coolest, Scariest Creatures Ever Found in the USA!, with Alan Barnard, Harry N. Abrams, 2009. Prisoner of Dieppe: World War II, Alistair Morrison, Occupied France, 1942, Scholastic Canada, 2010. Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic, Jamie Laidlaw, April 14, 1912, Scholastic Canada, 2011. Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World, Crown Publishing Group, 2012. From Vimy to Victory: Canada's Fight to the Finish in World War I, Scholastic Canada, 2014. Unsinkable Lucile: How a Farm Girl Became the Queen of Fashion and Survived the Titanic, illus. by Laurie McGaw, Firefly Books, 2022.
References