Geraldine McCaughrean
{{short description|British children's novelist (born 1951)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox author
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|6 June 1951}}
| image = Geraldine McCaughrean.jpg
| occupation = Author of children's books
| notable_works = *A Pack of Lies (1988)
- The Stones Are Hatching (1999)
- The Kite Rider (2001)
- Stop the Train (2001)
- Smile! (2004)
- Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006)
- The Death-Defying Pepper Roux (2010)
- Where the World Ends (2017)
- The White Darkness (2020)
| awards = {{plainlist}}
- Whitbread Award for Children's Book (1987, 1994, 1996, 2004)
- Carnegie Medal (1988, 2018)
- Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (1989)
- Blue Peter Book Award (2000, 2001)
- Michael L. Printz Award (2008)
{{endplainlist}}
| birth_place = London, England
| birth_name = Geraldine Jones
| spouse = John McCaughrean
| children = 1
}}
Geraldine McCaughrean ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|k|ɔː|k|r|ə|n}} {{respell|mə|KAWK|rən}};"Geraldine McCaughrean" in Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, entry updated 30 september 2001. born 6 June 1951){{Cite web |title=McCaughrean, Geraldine 1951- |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/mccaughrean-geraldine-1951 |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815214307/https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/mccaughrean-geraldine-1951 |url-status=live }} is a British children's novelist. She has written more than 170 books, including Peter Pan in Scarlet (2004), the official sequel to Peter Pan commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the holder of Peter Pan's copyright. Her work has been translated into 44 languages worldwide.{{Cite web|url=http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk/|title=geraldinemccaughrean|website=geraldinemccaughrean|access-date=2016-03-14|archive-date=20 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220022410/http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk/|url-status=live}} She has received the Carnegie Medal twice and the Michael L. Printz Award among others.
Personal life and education
McCaughrean was born 6 June 1951 in London to Leslie Arthur and Ethel Jones. The youngest of three children, she grew up in North London. McCaughrean attended Southgate Technical College from 1969 to 1970, then received a Bachelor of Education with honors from Christ Church College, Canterbury in 1977.
McCaughrean is married to John McCaughrean, with whom she has a daughter: Ailsa.
Career
McCaughrean studied teaching but found her true vocation in writing. She claims that what makes her love writing is the desire to escape from an unsatisfactory world.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Her motto is: do not write about what you know, write about what you want to know.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
McCaughrean's work includes many retellings of classic stories for children: The Odyssey, El Cid, The Canterbury Tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Moby Dick, One Thousand and One Arabian Nights and Gilgamesh.
J. M. Barrie gave all rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929, and in 2004, to coincide with Peter Pan's centenary, the hospital launched a competition to find the author of a sequel. McCaughrean won the competition, after submitting a synopsis and a sample chapter. Peter Pan in Scarlet was released internationally on 5 October 2006, published in the UK by Oxford University Press and in the US by Simon & Schuster.
McCaughrean has written many other children's fiction books including The Kite Rider, The Stones Are Hatching, and Plundering Paradise. She has also written six historical novels for adults including: The Maypole (1990), Fire's Astonishment (1991), Lovesong (1996) and The Ideal Wife (1997).
As of 2013, McCaughrean has launched an online novel based on the Hylas and Hercules myth, A Thousand Kinds of Ugly.
Awards and honours
For her lifetime contribution as a children's writer, McCaughrean was the British nominee in 2004 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition available to creators of children's books. She was elected an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University in 2006 and a Fellow of the English Association in 2010. She has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.rslit.org/rsl-fellows |title=RSL Fellows |publisher=The Royal Society of Literature |access-date=10 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717012209/http://www.rslit.org/rsl-fellows |archive-date=17 July 2012 |df=dmy }}
Four of McCaughrean's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Not the End of the World (2005),{{Cite web |title=Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780060760311J&name=Not_The_End_Of_The_World |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Junior Library Guild}} The White Darkness (2007),{{Cite web |title=The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780060890360J&name=White_Darkness |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Junior Library Guild}} The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen (2011),{{Cite web |title=The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780062008060J&name=Glorious_Adventures_of_the_Sunshine_Queen |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Junior Library Guild}} and Where the World Ends (2020).{{Cite web |title=Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781250225498J&name=Where_the_World_Ends |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Junior Library Guild |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202013312/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781250225498J&name=Where_the_World_Ends |url-status=live }}
In 2002, The Horn Book Magazine included The Kite Rider on their list of the best children's fiction of the year.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-12-05 |title=Horn Book Fanfare 1938 to present |url=https://www.hbook.com/story/bookreviews/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=The Horn Book |archive-date=20 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320225503/https://www.hbook.com/story/bookreviews/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present |url-status=live }}
In 2020, Booklist included Where the World Ends on their "Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth" list.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Julia |date=2020-05-15 |title=Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth: 2020 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=9735525 |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Booklist |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120084219/https://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=9735525 |url-status=live }}
Selected bibliography
- A Little Lower Than the Angels (1987)
- A Pack of Lies (1988)
- Gold Dust (1993)
- Plundering Paradise (1996) (US title: The Pirate's Son)
- Forever X (1997)
- The Stones Are Hatching (1999)
- The Great Chase (2000)
- Stop the Train! (2001)
- The Kite Rider (2001)
- Showstopper! (2003)
- Smile! (2004)
- Not the End of the World (2004)
- The White Darkness (2005)
- Cyrano (2006)
- Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006)
- Tamburlaine's Elephants (2007)
- The Death-Defying Pepper Roux (2009)
- Pull Out All The Stops! (2010) (US title: The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen)
- Robin Hood & the Golden Arrow and a World of Other Stories (2011)
- The Positively Last Performance (2013)
- The Middle of Nowhere (2013)
- Where the World Ends (2017)
- The Supreme Lie (2021)
References
{{reflist |25em |refs=
[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=70 (Carnegie Winner 1988)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608044243/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=70 |date=8 June 2009 }}. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
[http://web.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/award%20books/CarnegieMedal.htm "Carnegie Medal Award"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327101434/http://web.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/award%20books/CarnegieMedal.htm |date=27 March 2019 }}. 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 13 July 2012.
[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize "Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090634/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize |date=27 March 2019 }}. The Guardian 12 March 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
[http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104231300/http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners |date=4 November 2015 }}. YALSA. American Library Association. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
[http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=521 "2004"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042434/http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=521 |date=1 December 2017 }}. Hans Christian Andersen Awards. International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).
[http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=273 "Hans Christian Andersen Awards"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320000404/http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=273 |date=20 March 2019 }}. IBBY. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
{{cite news |title=Geraldine McCaughrean, Sydney Smith Win 2018 Carnegie, Greenaway Medals |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/77284-geraldine-mccaughrean-sydney-smith-win-2018-carnegie-greenaway-medals.html |newspaper=Publishers Weekly |date=18 June 2018 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=18 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618204100/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/77284-geraldine-mccaughrean-sydney-smith-win-2018-carnegie-greenaway-medals.html |url-status=live }}
}}
External links
- {{official website |http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk}}
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311180023/http://tls.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25339-2421248,00.html |date=11 March 2008 |title="Neverland regained"}}, review of Peter Pan in Scarlet by Mick Imlah, The Times Literary Supplement, 25 October 2006
- {{british council |geraldine-mccaughrean}}
- {{isfdb name |8291 |Geraldine McCaughrean }}
- [http://romaunce.com/our-authors-2/ Our Authors, 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526042017/http://romaunce.com/our-authors-2/ |date=26 May 2018 }} (including McCaughrean) at Romaunce Books, publisher of romantic and historical fiction
- {{LCAuth|n87129917|Geraldine McCaughrean|72|ue}}
{{Michael L. Printz Award Winners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaughrean, Geraldine}}
Category:British children's writers
Category:British fantasy writers
Category:British historical novelists
Category:British writers of young adult literature
Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
Category:Costa Book Award winners
Category:Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Category:Michael L. Printz Award winners
Category:Alumni of Canterbury Christ Church University
Category:British women children's writers
Category:British women science fiction and fantasy writers
Category:British women historical novelists
Category:British women writers of young adult literature
Category:20th-century British novelists
Category:20th-century British women writers
Category:21st-century British novelists