Theodore Taylor was an American author of more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books for young adult readers

Young adult literature

Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

, including The Cay, The Weirdo (winner of the 1992 Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 for Best Young Adult Mystery), Ice Drift, Timothy of the Cay, The Bomb

The Bomb (novel)

The Bomb is a 1995 novel by Theodore Taylor written to protest against nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll after the natives are forced to move. It was first published by Harcourt Children's Books in October 1995. The book won the 1996 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.-Plot summary:Sorry...

, Sniper, and Rogue Wave.

Taylor died on October 26, 2006 in Laguna Beach, CA, from complications of a heart attack.
The Cay, Taylor's story of a racially prejudiced white boy stranded with a black man, took only three weeks to complete, and has become perhaps the most beloved of his young adult novels.