Scott O'Dell (1898-1989) - probably the foremost writer of historical fiction for children in the latter half of the twentieth century - was over sixty before he wrote a single word for children. Few authors, however, can claim such instant success as O'Dell had with the Newbery Medal-winning Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960). That book and his many others for children that followed - namely, The King's Fifth (1967), The Black Pearl (1968), and Sing Down the Moon (1971) - established O'Dell's reputation as a first-rate writer of historical fiction but also brought to national attention his gift for storytelling - a gift bolstered by his sensibilities as a moralist, an environmentalist, and a multiculturalist. In his first book-length study of O'Dell's complete works, David L. Russell argues that the artist reached the peak of his achievement in children's literature in the 1960s, with his first several historical works, but he also contends that these first few award-winning books were a tough act to follow.