Biography
Vikki grew up in Woodstock, Ontario, where she spent most of her time reading, singing, and figure skating. Vikki has loved books and stories and writing for as long as she can remember. In grade three, she wrote a short story called “The Loon,” based loosely on her experiences at Lake Dalrymple in Orillia. She also entered poetry contests in middle school, and even won a few! Most significantly, she won the “Time of Your Life” poetry contest sponsored by Global TV. Part of the prize package was an all-expenses-paid trip to Toronto, where Vikki met the stars of the TV show Ready or Not, filmed a promotional commercial, and saw The Who’s Tommy, live on stage — a big thrill for a musical theatre addict!
In grade eight, Vikki received permission to be exempt from all writing assignments to finish her first novel, The Haunting, a sweeping epic romance with ghosts, twins, reincarnation and a cottage, which she painstakingly typed on an old typewriter. In high school, theatre became her focus. Her first stage play, Naomi/Rivka, was produced in a festival of new works at Queen’s University.
While in university, she took a course called “writing for children” and re-discovered, after many years and a few detours, that writing for children is what she loves best. She decided to dedicate her life to children’s literature and was determined that someday she would make her mark and contribute to the impressive body of work that exists for young readers. She is now living that dream!
Her first novel, Words That Start with B, was shortlisted for the 2011 Libris Award's Children's Book of the Year, was a 2011 Best Books for Kids and Teens selection and a 2011 IODE Violet Downey Recommended Book. It was followed up with Love is a Four-Letter Word, Days that End in Y and Summer Days, Starry Nights. Her chilling novel for young adults entitled The Winnowing was nominated for many awards and was the winner of the OLA Red Maple Award, Fiction in 2018. Her latest book, P.S. Tell No One, is a funny, contemporary and long-overdue continuation of the conversation about puberty that Judy Blume started 50 years ago.
Vikki holds an MA in Children's Literature from the University of British Columbia and a degree in drama from Queen's University. Her scholarly work has been published in Knowing Their Place: Identity and Space in Children's Literature (Cambridge Scholars Press). Vikki now lives in Toronto and is an active member of the children's book community, presenting at academic conferences, reviewing books and managing her own popular children’s lit blog. Currently she splits her time between writing and working in marketing and publicity. She lives in Toronto. Connect with her at https://vikkivansickle.com or on twitter @vikkivansickle.
