Sherryl Jordan

Sherryl Rose Jordan (née Brogden; 8 June 1949 – 15 December 2023) was a New Zealand writer for children and young adults, specialising in fantasy and historical fiction. She wrote a number of children's and young adult works, published in New Zealand and overseas. She is best known for her books The Juniper Game and The Raging Quiet. In 2001, she received the Margaret Mahy Medal for her contribution to children's literature, publishing and literacy.

Biography

Jordan was born Sherryl Rose Brogden on 8 June 1949 in Hāwera, the daughter of Alan Vivian Brogden and Patricia Ita Brogden (née Cornwall). and spent her early years in Normanby, in South Taranaki. After the family shifted to Tauranga, she was educated at Tauranga Girls' College from 1962 to 1964, and then trained as a nurse from 1967 to 1968.

Jordan's early work in children's literature was as an illustrator, and she wrote picture books, middle-grade fiction, and young adult fiction. Her knowledge of sign language and her experience working as a teacher aide with deaf children is a clear influence on her historical fiction, The Raging Quiet.

Jordan died on 15 December 2023.

Awards

Jordan won a number of awards, and her books were shortlisted for awards in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Belgium and Germany.

1981 Whitcoulls national illustrating competition for The Silent One

1982 AIM Children's Book Awards Book of the Year for The Silent One

1988 Choysa Bursary Award for Rocco

1991 AIM Children's Book Awards Fiction Winner for Rocco

1992 Esther Glen Awards shortlist for The Juniper Game

1992 Esther Glen Awards shortlist for The Wednesday Wizard

1992 AIM Children's Book Awards Fiction shortlist for The Wednesday Wizard

1992 AIM Children's Book Awards Fiction shortlist for The Juniper Game

1993 AIM Children's Book Awards Junior Fiction shortlist for Denzil's Dilemma

1993 Iowa University (USA): Won a writing residency for the International Writing Programme

1993 American bookseller magazine "Pick of the List" for Winter of Fire

1994 AIM Children's Book Awards Senior Fiction shortlist for Winter of Fire

1994 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults for Winter of Fire

1994 Children's Book of the Year by Bank Street School of Education (USA) for Winter of Fire

1995 AIM Children's Book Awards Senior Fiction shortlist for Tanith

1995 Esther Glen Awards shortlist for Tanith

1995 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults for Tanith (Wolf-Woman)

1995 Voted one of the "Young Adults" choices (USA) for Winter of Fire

1999 The USA School Library Journal Best of Award for The Raging Quiet

2000 Storylines Notable Books List Senior Fiction list for The Raging Quiet

2001 Storylines Margaret Mahy Award

2001 Wirral Paperpack of the Year for The Raging Quiet

2001 Buxtehude Bulle Prize for Best Young Person's Book of the Year for The Juniper Game

2002 IBBY Honour Book Writing for The Raging Quiet

2005 Storylines Notable Books List – Young Adult Fiction list for The Hunting of the Last Dragon

2008 Esther Glen Awards shortlist for Time of the Eagle

2008 Storylines Notable Books List Young Adult Fiction list for Time of the Eagle

2010 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for Denzil's Dilemma

2011 Storylines Notable Books List Junior Fiction list for Finnigan and the Pirates

2011 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards Junior Fiction winner for Finnigan and the Pirates

2021 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards Young Adult Fiction shortlist for The King's Nightingale