A fun question.
Who would make your favourite top ten list of contemporary authors.
I found it difficult to select ten favourite authors. You can pick less than ten in any order of preference
My list is as follows.
1st. Michael Morpurgo
Joint second place.
Joanne Harris
Eva Ibottson
Sharon Creech
Malorie Blackman
Geraldine McCaughrean
Joint third place.
Philip Pullman
Anne Fine
Gillian Cross
Kevin Crossley Holland
Jennifer, I like Morpurgo, because he gives back. He created the Children's Laureate, and contributed to charitable farms, which inner city kids can visit.
He champions children's causes.
http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/
Sorry I am old fashioned.
Tolken
Steven King
Lewis Carol
PD James
to name many more.
Hi Jonathan
Try Stone Junction by Jim Dodge when you get a chance. It's a cracker of a story.
Adrian, Faulkner can take some getting used to (it's the language and the dialect and the skipping about in time) but it is worth it. Mind blowing writer. When I was 20 I picked up The Reivers and dropped it almost immediately because I found it inaccessible. Five years later thought, my brain was ready and I devoured it with a satisfaction I had never before experienced. He really rocks as a writer :)
Must try some Morpugo. I saw him interviewed about War Horse and he came across as a very sympathetic man - more than just a children's author for sure.