Valerie Anne Sherrard (née Russell: born May 16, 1957) is a Canadian author of books for children and young adults including the novels The Glory Wind, Kate, Speechless and the Shelby Belgarden mystery series.
Sherrard was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to Bob and Pauline Russell and raised in various parts of Canada.
When living in Lahr, West Germany, in the sixth-grade, her homeroom teacher, Alf Lower, inspired her to become a writer.
Sherrard's novel in free verse, Counting Back from Nine, was nominated for a 2013 Governor General's Award in the Children's Text category.
While raising her own three children, Anthony, Rebecca (deceased) and Pamela, she was a foster parent to approximately seventy teenagers.