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 on the Dinah Galloway series:

"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; editing and laying out TWUC's BC-Yukon WestWords newsletter; and co-handling social media for the Children Writers and Illustrators of BC. 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.