Ben Mikaelsen

Ben Mikaelsen (born December 8, 1952) is a Bolivian American writer of children's literature.

Mikaelsen was born in December 8, 1952 in La Paz, Bolivia. The son of missionary parents of Danish descent, he wasn't sent to school until the fourth grade where he was bullied for his race. Mikaelsen moved to the United States with his family shortly before entering the seventh grade, where he encountered further bullying because of his spoken English skills. As a teen in Minnesota, he taught himself to swim and dive, and took flight and skydiving lessons. Mikaelsen attended Concordia College and Bemidji State University.

Mikaelsen owned a male American black bear named Buffy for 26 years until the bear's death in 2010. Mikaelsen considered Buffy a "750-pound member of my family." He has been writing full-time since 1984 and currently lives around Bozeman, Montana with his wife, Connie.

• Rescue Josh McGuire (1991)
• Sparrow Hawk Red (1993)
• Stranded (1995)
• Countdown (1996)
• Petey (1998)
• Touching Spirit Bear (2001)
• Red Midnight (2002)
• Tree Girl (2004)
• Ghost of Spirit Bear (2008)
• Jungle of Bones (2014)

Mikaelson's work has won many state youth literature awards, including the California Young Reader Medal and Wyoming's Indian Paintbrush Book Award.

• 1991: Golden Spur, Juvenile Fiction, Rescue Josh McGuire
• 1992: International Reading Association Children's Book Award, Older Reader Category, Rescue Josh McGuire
• 1999: ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Petey
• 1999: Golden Spur, Juvenile Fiction, Petey
• 2002: ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Touching Spirit Bear

• ^ "Spur Awards Past Winners". Western Writers of America. Retrieved 10 December 2014. 
• "IRA Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards". International Reading Association. Retrieved 10 December 2014. 
• ^ "Best Fiction for Young Adults". American Library Association. Retrieved 10 December 2014.