Member Profile

Melanie is the author of such middle-grade/young-adult suspensers with Orca Book Publishers as The Big Dip and Death Drop, as well as the Dinah Galloway Mystery Series. For Medusa's Scream, a Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Book, Middle Readers, 2018, Melanie was a TD-CCBC Book Week author. (See these and other of her books, below.)

Booklist on her Edgar Allan Poe-themed Tick Tock Terror (2019): "Jackson’s gripping, first-person, plot-driven novel ask readers to consider self-confidence vs. over-active ego; right vs. wrong…A suspenseful addition to high-low collections."

The British Columbia Review on The Fifth Beethoven (Crwth Press, 2020): “Scottish-born Vancouverite Melanie Jackson is a veteran writer of mysteries for young people, and it shows: she hits the right notes with this mystery for tweens and early teens. Not only does the mystery thread keep you coming back; the plot also explores all-too-relevant inequities and injustices, while educating young readers about the coolness of classical music and musicians — all at a quick tempo and in a light hearted tone. ...all the hallmarks of a good mystery…with contemporary relevance, a complex web of clues, an array of suspects, and a satisfying solution.”

Horn Book:

"Jackson spares no artistic expense ... She knows how to write a full-bodied scene, gauges correctly that it's worth her time to drolly title her chapters ('Sour Notes with Piano Man'), crafts worthy subplots and delivers strong characterizations of even second-banana players (a painfully self-conscious new teacher; a friend obsessed with trees). It's a testament to Jackson's command of her material that her main currency, her wit ... is not incongruous with the books' dark side."Melanie regularly teaches a mystery/creative writing unit to Vancouver secondary-school students. She also does stand-alone presentations/readings for schools."

The orange cat plus other, less important info:

A former journalist, now a business/marketing writer/editor, Melanie lives in Vancouver with her husband and scene-stealing orange cat. Her volunteer work includes mentoring students in creative writing for the Vancouver School Board; co-handling social media for the Children Writers and Illustrators of BC; and copy editing/layout for TWUC's BC-Yukon WestWords newsletter. She's also on the University of Toronto's Vanoouver alumni committee, and before the pandemic organized alum book club meetings for eight years.

In 2016 Melanie received a University of Toronto Alumni Arbor Award.