Deborah Abela
Deborah Abela (1966) is a children's books author from Sydney, Australia, most notably the '''Max Remy, Super Spy''' series.
Early life
Her mother, Maureen Duck, was born in Australia in 1947 and her father Amante (Monty), was born in ir-Rabat, Malta in 1942 during a WWII bombing raid in Malta. Her grandparents were Theresa and Ramech Abela. Ramech Abela migrated to Australia to find a house for his family and he was then followed by his wife, Monty and other family members in 1950. They all went on the assisted passage scheme, settling in Sydney and living in Leichhardt. Deborah’s grandmother was not a very well woman and, only a few years later, Monty and his brothers were sent to Boystown and his sisters to a convent. They were able to return to their home after a few years, but their mother remained ill and died in 1960.
Deborah went to St Patrick’s Primary School, Guildford and Cerdon College, Merrylands, for her high school years. She enrolled in a Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) before travelling around the world for three years. After returning to Australia she completed a degree in Communications, majoring in writing and film theory at UTS in 1995.
Publications
Deborah began working in children’s television, initially in the script department of the Southern Star production house and then as an assistant producer and producer/writer for Cheez TV.
In 2001, she left television to write her first novel, Max Remy Superspy Part 1: In Search of the Time and Space Machine which was published in 2002. She has completed ten books in the Max Remy Superspy series and they have been published in six countries including Germany and Brazil.
She has also written a shorter series of books on Jasper Zammit Soccer Legend and several other books. Former Socceroo captain, the late Johnny Warren, co-authored two of the Jasper Zammit series. When asked why she chose the name Zammit for her soccer star, Deborah responded …because soccer was brought to this country by European migrants and even though many of them didn’t have the same language, the soccer field and their love of the game united them.
Her other books are The Remarkable Secret of Aurelia Bonhoffen, Grimsdon and the Ghost Club series.
Awards & nominations
Deborah has been nominated for and won numerous awards in the field of children’s literature:
- 2005 - New York Gold Oppenheim Toy and Book Award
- Shortlisted- Ellie Awards, Alabama, USA
- 2007 - Shortlisted - Children’s Book Council Awards of America, as well as the WAYRBA, KOALA and YABBA popular awards in NSW, Victoria and WA
- 2008 - Awarded the Max Gibbs Fellowship for Children’s Literature; Max Remy Superspy series voted by the public into the Top 50 Children’s Books (Angus and Robertson)
- 2009 - Ambassador, NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge and NSW Premier’s Westpac Spelling Bee Challenge
- 2010 - Max Remy Superspy series shortlisted for both the YABBA and KOALA awards. Both awards are voted for by children from Victoria and NSW.
- 2010 - The Remarkable Secret of Aurelia Bonhoffen, shortlisted for best children’s book in the Aurealis Awards and awarded Notable Book of 2010 by the Children’s Book Council of Australia.
- 2011 - Grimsdon, a novel about children living in a flooded city, shortlisted for the Aurealis, REAL and Speech Pathology Awards; Favourite Kids’ Book in the Kids’ Book Review
- 2012 - Nominated, Ambassador for the National Year of Reading, Australia
- 2012 - Ambassador, Premier’s Reading Challenge NSW
- 2012 - Shortlisted USBBY Outstanding International Book Awards, USA for The Ghost of Gribblesea Pier (Australian title, The Remarkable Secret of Aurelia Bonhoffen)
- 2013 - Maurice Saxby Award for Services to Children’s Literature
- 2013 - Ghost Club series nominated for Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards
Sources
1. Deborah Abela, personal communication 2. Wikipedia