Readers and the Aotearoa book sector are sharing memories of award-winning children’s author Sherryl Jordan who has died aged 74.
Sherryl was a long-time NZSA member and is remembered for many award-winning books written for children, especially historical novels and works of fantasy.
Her publisher Scholastic New Zealand has written a tribute to the author, originally posted on Facebook and republished with permission below.
We at Scholastic New Zealand are deeply saddened to report the passing on Friday, 15 December 2023, of beloved children’s and YA fiction author, Sherryl Jordan, aged 74 years.
Born in Hawera, Taranaki, but living most of her adult life in Tauranga, Sherryl’s first published work was as an illustrator for Joy Cowley’s The Silent One in 1982. She then went on to write a multitude of children’s and YA fiction titles, many of which were also published internationally, beginning with the much-acclaimed Rocco in 1988, which was published simultaneously by Scholastic in NZ and the USA. Other favourite and award-winning Scholastic titles include The Juniper Game, Winter of Fire, The Wednesday Wizard (junior fiction series), Ransomwood, The Freedom Merchants, Finnigan and the Pirates (which she also illustrated) and, most recently, The King’s Nightingale.
