Sally Gardner

Sally Gardner is the daughter of two lawyers. She was raised in Birmingham; her parents separated and later divorced when she was five.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sallygardner.co.uk/about|title=ABOUT}} Her mother, Nina Lowry, was a barrister and judge at the Old Bailey.[https://web.archive.org/web/20210911131226/https://prettybooks.co.uk/2013/11/12/blog-tour-tinder-by-sally-gardner/ Blog Tour: Tinder by Sally Gardner] Retrieved 11/9/21.

Gardner recalls being badly bullied in school, even being nicknamed 'Silly Sally' on account of her then undiagnosed dyslexia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm/author_number/1195/sally-gardner|title = Sally Gardner author interview}} She was formally diagnosed with severe dyslexia at 12 and didn't learn to read until she was 14, with the first book she read in full being Wuthering Heights. Noticed by teachers for her creative flair, she did very well in art college and then in drama college, and worked as a theatre set designer before turning to illustration and writing. She lives in London. In 2019 Sally became an Ambassador for audiobook charity Listening Books.

Her first book as a writer was published by Orion Books in 1993: The Little Nut Tree, a children's picture book that she also illustrated.[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59883151 "The little nut tree"]. WorldCat. Retrieved 2014-07-01.

Her first full-length novel was a breakthrough, as I, Coriander won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 2005 (reader category 9–11 years). It is set in Cromwellian London and tells the story of Coriander, the unhappy daughter of a silk merchant.

The Red Necklace: A story of the French Revolution and its sequel The Silver Blade are set primarily in France during the Revolution and the Reign of Terror, also in contemporary London. They feature an aristocratic girl and a gypsy boy who are 12 and 14 years old when the story opens. The boy Yann has been trained to assist a stage magician but has or develops genuine magic powers; a starred review (unusually good) by the American service Kirkus Reviews labels even The Red Necklace fantasy.{{OCLC|181368668}}. {{OCLC|311783665}}.[http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sally-gardner/the-red-necklace "THE RED NECKLACE by Sally Gardner"]. Kirkus Reviews. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

The Double Shadow is historical fantasy that opens in 1937 Britain.{{OCLC|751735207}}. Tinder (2013) is a historical novel set during the Thirty Years' War.

Maggot Moon (2012) won the Carnegie Medal from the CILIP, which annually recognises the best new book for children or young adults published in the UK. The alternate history is set in 1950s England during the space race, under the thumb of the so-called Motherland.[http://www.aclib.us/good-reads/blog/maggot-moon-sally-gardner "Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714213200/http://www.aclib.us/good-reads/blog/maggot-moon-sally-gardner |date=14 July 2014 }}. GailC's blog. 28 February 2014. Alachua County Library District (aclib.us). Retrieved 2014-07-02. Kirkus says the unnamed "Motherland's distinguishing features scream "Nazi Germany"" and suggests that we "call it Auschwitz lite". Its reviewer judged that the book must fail between younger and older readers: on the one hand, "short chapters and simple vocabulary and syntax ... oversimplified characters, a feeble setting and inauthentic science"; on the other hand, brutal content.[http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sally-gardner/maggot-moon "MAGGOT MOON by Sally Gardner"]. Kirkus Reviews. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 2014-07-02. Three months later it was recommended for ages 11+ by the panel of British librarians that named it to the Carnegie Medal shortlist with the comment: "A stunning book with an underdog hero, Maggot Moon offers a powerful depiction of an utterly convincing and frightening dystopia. With clever plotting, conspiracy theory and a truly original concept at the heart of it, this is a real tour de force without a hint of sentimentality." The inspiration for Maggot Moon comes from Moon landing conspiracies and her research on "what if histories".{{Citation|title=Sally Gardner on MAGGOT MOON| date=20 August 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOvAXTSrMo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/yTOvAXTSrMo |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-10-05}}{{cbignore}}

In 2016 she wrote her first adult novel entitled An Almond for a Parrot which The Guardian called 'an irresistible erotic fairytale'

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• The Little Nut Tree (Orion Books, 1993)
• My Little Princess (1994)
• A Book of Princesses (Orion, 1997) – classic fairy tales retold {{†}}
• The Strongest Girl in the World (1999) {{‡}}
• The Fairy Catalogue: everything you need to make a fairy tale (2000)
• The Smallest Girl Ever (2000) {{‡}}
• The Boy Who Could Fly (2001) {{‡}}
• The Glass Heart: a tale of three princesses (2001)
• Mama, Don't Go Out Tonight (2002)
• The Invisible Boy (2002) {{‡}}
• Boolar's Big Day Out (2003)
• Fairy Shopping (2003)
• The Boy with the Magic Numbers (2003)
• The Countess's Calamity (2003)
• I, Coriander (2005)
• A Hoof in the Door (2005)
• The Boy with the Lightning Feet (2006)
• The Red Necklace (2007)

({{†}}) Five classic fairy tales retold and illustrated by Gardner in A Book of Princesses (1997) were reissued by Orion in 2011, singly, as the Magical Princesses series: Cinderella; The Frog Prince; The Princess and the Pea; Sleeping Beauty; Snow White.[http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Magical+Princesses+gardner&qt=results_page 'Magical Princesses gardner'] (search report). WorldCat. Retrieved 2014-07-01.

({{‡}}) The Magical Children series, originally published by Dolphin Paperbacks, comprises "stories about ordinary children who suddenly develop magical powers". {{OCLC|69020874}}

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• I, Coriander (2005)
• Lucy Willow (2006)
• The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution (2007)
• The Silver Blade (2008) (sequel to The Red Necklace)
• The Double Shadow (2011)
• Maggot Moon (2012), illus. Julian Crouch
• Tinder (2013), illus. David Roberts
• The Door That Led to Where (2015)
• My Side of the Diamond (2017), illus. Nat Barlex
• The Snow Song (2020)

:Wings & Co: The Fairy Detective Agency

:illustrated by David Roberts and published by Orion

:*Operation Bunny (2012)

:* Three Pickled Herrings (2012)

:* The Vanishing of Billy Buckle (2013)

:* The Matchbox Mysteries (2014)

:* The Flying Carpet Thief (2017)

:* Murder of Mrs Mop (forthcoming)

• Robert and the Giant (Hamish Hamilton, 1990), by Marjorie Newman
• Suzi, Sam, George & Alice (1993), Beverley Birch
• Playtime Rhymes (1995)
• Gynormous!: The Ultimate Book of Giants (1996), Adrian Mitchell
• Hello? Is Anybody There? (1997), Jostein Gaarder, 144 pp. – orig. Hallo? Er det noen her? {{in lang|no}}, 1996 {{OCLC|222263518}}
• The Real Fairy Storybook (1998), Georgie Adams
• Polly's Running Away Book (2000), Frances Thomas
• Polly's Absolutely Worst Birthday Ever (2001), Thomas
• Polly's Really Secret Diary (2002), Thomas

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• An Almond for a Parrot (2016)
• The Beauty of the Wolf (2019)

[https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/wray-delaney/ A pseudonym used by Sally Gardner] Retrieved 22/5/21.

• 2003 The Countess's Calamity, Nestlé Children's Book Prize bronze runner-up and Kids' Club Award winner, ages 6–8 years[http://www.booktrusted.co.uk/nestle Nestlé Children's Book Prize]. Booktrust. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508125437/http://www.booktrusted.co.uk/nestle |date=8 May 2008 }}
• 2005 I, Coriander, winner Nestlé Children's Book Prize, ages 9–11 years
• 2006 I, Coriander, shortlisted for the National Book Awards, Children's Book of the Year[http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk British Book Awards]. {{full citation needed|date=July 2014}}
• 2007 I, Coriander, shortlisted for the Stockton Children's Book of the Year{{cite news |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1231486.oscars_for_childrens_books.php |title='Oscars' for children's books |access-date=2014-07-02 |date=2 March 2007 |publisher=The Northern Echo}}
• 2012 Maggot Moon, Costa Book Awards, Children's Book
• 2013 Maggot Moon, Carnegie Medal

{{reflist |25em |refs=

{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20887309 |title=Hilary Mantel wins 2012 Costa novel prize|date=2 January 2013 |access-date=2013-01-02 |publisher=BBC News}}

{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/jun/19/carnegie-medal-winner-sally-gardner-attacks-gove |title=Carnegie medal winner Sally Gardner attacks Gove |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Alison Flood |date=19 June 2013 |access-date=2013-06-19}}

[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=134 (Carnegie Winner 2013)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718124158/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=134 |date=18 July 2014 }}. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2014-07-01.

[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/press.php?release=pres_2013_winn_both.html "Press Desk: 'Unteachable' author and emerging illustrator enter children's books hall of fame"]. Press release 19 June 2013, with press kit. CILIP. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2013awards/carnegie_shortlist.php "2013 Awards: Carnegie shortlisted books"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174528/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2013awards/carnegie_shortlist.php |date=14 July 2014 }}. CILIP. 2014-07-02.

Viv Groskop (14 December 2013). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/15/sally-gardner-childrens-tinder-interview "Sally Gardner interview: 'Poor young men in Britain are still cannon fodder for the army{{'"}}]. The Observer. Retrieved 2014-02-12.

Michelle Pauli (3 December 2003). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/dec/03/nestleprize "Debut wins Smartie gold medal"]. theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

Michelle Pauli (14 December 2005). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/dec/14/nestleprize "Dyslexic writer savours Nestle victory"]. theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

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{{Portal |Children's literature |Speculative fiction}}

• {{official website }}
• [http://sallygardner.blogspot.com Blog]
• {{ISFDB name|30942}}
• [http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=1195 Gardner at Book Browse] – short biography, interview, etc.
• {{cite web |url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/childrens/microsite.asp?id=60§ion=3 |title=Gardner at Bloomsbury Publishing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031012055821/http://www.bloomsbury.com/childrens/microsite.asp?id=60§ion=3 |archive-date=2003-10-12}}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/bigtoe/books/authors/gardner.shtml |title=BBC 7 – Big Toe Radio Show – Author Sally Gardner |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313082852/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/bigtoe/books/authors/gardner.shtml |archive-date=2007-03-13}}
• {{LCAuth|n93061264|Sally Gardner|28|ue}} (plus at least 3 early works by another Sally Gardner)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Sally}}

Category:English children's writers

Category:British women children's writers

Category:English historical novelists

Category:English illustrators

Category:British children's book illustrators

Category:British women children's book illustrators

Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature winners

Category:Costa Book Award winners

Category:20th-century British illustrators

Category:Illustrators of fairy tales

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands

Category:Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands

Category:Writers with dyslexia

Category:British writers with disabilities

Category:21st-century British illustrators