Marthe Jocelyn

Jocelyn was born in 1956 in Toronto and was raised in Stratford, Ontario.[1] As a teenager, she attended a boarding school in Great Britain. After living in various areas, she settled in New York City,[1] where she lived for thirty years before returning to Stratford.[6]

She is married to Tom Slaughter and has two daughters: Hannah and Nell.[1] Tom and Nell have contributed illustrations to a number of her children's books.

Aside from writing, Jocelyn owned Jesse Design, a "toy and clothing design firm" for fifteen years.[1]

In 2009, Jocelyn received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People,[5][7] an honour bestowed by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth".[4]

Five of Jocelyn's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Earthly Astonishments (2000),[8] Mable Riley (2004),[9] Folly (2010),[10] The Body under the Piano (2020),[11] and Peril at Owl Park (2021).[12] Two of her books have been included on USBBY's Outstanding International Books List: Would You (2009)[13] and Sam Sorts (2018).[14]

In 2007, the Toronto Public Library included Eats on their "list of the top 10 books of 2007 for children under the age of five".[15] The same year, School Library Journal named How It Happened in Peach Hill one of the best children's books of the year.[16]

Folly was named one of the Kirkus Reviews' best books for teens in 2010, and Bank Street College of Education included it on their 2011 list of the best Historical Fiction for Children Ages 14+.[10]