Allen Appel facts for kids
Allen Appel (born January 6, 1945) is an American writer. He is most famous for his exciting book series about a time traveler named Alex Balfour. In these books, Alex meets real historical people and experiences actual events from the past!
Allen Appel was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia. After graduating from West Virginia University in 1967, he moved to Washington, D.C.. There, he worked as an illustrator and photographer. He became known for his unique collage pictures in The Washington Post newspaper. This work led to his first book, Proust's Last Beer: A History of Curious Demises (1980), which he created with writer Bob Arnebeck. Appel's creative black-and-white collages brought Arnebeck's stories about people and animals to life.
His Time-Traveling Novels
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Allen Appel wrote several novels. His first successful book was Time After Time, published in 1985. This story follows Alex Balfour, a history professor, as he suddenly travels between modern-day New York City and the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Alex tries to understand his strange situation and even attempts to help Czar Nicholas and his family. Along the way, he meets famous historical figures like Ivan Pavlov, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Grigory Rasputin.
Time After Time received good reviews and was recognized by the American Library Association as one of the Best Young Adult Novels of the Year. This means it was a great book for young readers!
Time After Time was the first book in what became known as the Alex Balfour series. The author sometimes calls it the Pastmaster series. A fun part of these books is that Alex always meets real historical people.
More Adventures in Time
- The next book, Twice Upon a Time (also 1985), features famous figures like Mark Twain and George Armstrong Custer. This story takes place around the time of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn. It was also nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Young Adult Novel.
- In the third book, Till the End of Time (1990), Alex travels to 1945 during the end of World War II. He meets Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. This book was also nominated for the ALA award.
- In Time of War (2003) is the fourth book. It is set during the American Civil War. In this adventure, Alex meets Ambrose Bierce and Abraham Lincoln.
- The fifth and most recent Pastmaster book is The Test of Time (2015). This story takes place in New York City around 1910. An older Mark Twain returns, and Alex also meets two brilliant inventors of that era: Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.
There's also a book called Sea of Time. It was written in 1987 but wasn't published until 2012 as an eBook. This story is set aboard the famous ship Titanic in 1912.
Photography Work
Besides writing, Allen Appel is also a talented photographer. His photography work is shown at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery.
