Sherryl Rose Jordan (née Brogden) (1949-2023)

Tauranga author Sherryl Jordan won a number of prestigious awards and rates among the great names of children and young adult’s literature, both nationally and internationally. Her outstanding books are a blend of fantasy, science fiction and romantic realism. She was the recipient of a 1993 fellowship to the prestigious writing program at the University of Iowa and several of her books have been translated into other languages. Sherryl was a founding member of Bookrapt (Est. 1983), the Bay of Plenty Children’s Literature Association, which was established with the vision of encouraging, supporting, and promoting reading and writing. I was privileged to meet and chat with Sherryl at Bookrapt events many times over the years and am still in awe of her great talent and ability to easily transport us to other times and other worlds. She was a lovely soul and will be sadly missed. – Debbie McCauley.

Sherryl Rose Brogden was born at Hāwera in the Taranaki region of New Zealand’s North Island on 8 June 1949. Her parents were Alan Vivian Brogden and Patricia Ita Brogden (née Cornwall) who had married in 1948. The family moved to Tauranga where Sherryl attended Tauranga Girls’ College from 1962 to 1964. From 1967 to 1968 she completed two years of nursing training.

From 1979 to 1987 Sherryl worked as a teacher’s aide in primary schools, learning sign language in order to help profoundly deaf children. Sherryl had been writing stories since the age of 10, and in 1989 started suffering from occupational overuse syndrome so was forced to take a break. Eventually she was able to return to writing.

Sherryl was a successful book illustrator before she turned to serious writing. She wrote 36 picture books and 12 novels before her 13th novel, Rocco, was selected for publication in 1990. The novel went on to win the AIM Book of the Year in 1991, and Sherryl soon found her place in the literary world with her novels for young adults.

During 1993 Sherryl was the Writer in Residence at the University of Iowa after winning a fellowship. She spoke widely at schools and conferences in the United States, Australia, Denmark, and New Zealand. However, in 1999 she was afflicted with chronic fatigue syndrome which she struggled with for five years. In 2017 she was diagnosed with cancer, and then a disc slipped in her spine, leaving her only able to write for half an hour at a time.

Many of Sherryl’s books are inspired by medieval times, the turning of the seasons and the rhythm of nature. Her stories blend fantasy, science fiction and romantic realism. The hard realities of life are also explored, with ordinary people struggling against oppression and prejudice.

Sherryl was a founding member, long-time supporter, and beloved part of Bookrapt (the Bay of Plenty Children’s Literature Association). She was also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the New Zealand Children’s Book Foundation (from 2000 the Children’s Literature Foundation of New Zealand) and the New Zealand Society of Authors.

Sadly, Sherryl passed away in Tauranga on 15 December 2023. Sherryl requested a private farewell and asked that you remember her in your own way.

Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana, kia tere te kārohirohi i mua i tō huarahi.

May peace be widespread, may the sea glisten like pounamu, and may the shimmer of light guide you on your way.

Message to Bookrapt from Sherry Jordan (28 October 2023)

“Dear Bookrapt Friends, I am sorry that I cannot be with you today, to share in Bookrapt’s 40th anniversary celebration. Over the years, it’s been my great joy and encouragement to celebrate children’s literature with you at book launches, seminars, young writers’ workshops, Christmas gatherings, and other events. Your friendship and support have meant a great deal to me. Bookrapt is a fellowship enfolding so many who love and promote children’s literature: teachers and librarians, writers and illustrators, booksellers and publishers, and others – most especially, readers. Within this fellowship we have supported and encouraged one another, learned new skills, been informed, enriched, and empowered – and forged lifelong friendships. I am grateful to have been a part of Bookrapt and all it means. I thank you for this and, as you celebrate today, I am with you in my heart.” – Sherryl

Quotes from Sherryl Jordan

“I wanted to write books even before I could write. My first book, made when I was four years old, was a picture story about a little mermaid. I had to draw pictures to make the book, because I couldn’t write.” – My Best Friends are Books

“All my young adult novels have been gifts… I don’t think them up. They hit me over the head when I least expect them; overwhelm me with impressions, sights, and sounds of their new worlds; enchant me with their characters; and dare me to write them.” – St. James Guide to Children’s Writers.

“It’s the most amazing feeling. I think the only time I’ve ever had a feeling like that outside of writing was when my daughter was born. I can remember going for a little walk around the hospital and I was just walking on clouds… It’s a sense of absolutely ecstatic awe. It’s the heart of creativity.” – The Sapling (2018).

“While I’m writing, the world in my story is more real than this one.” – Read NZ Te Pou Muramura.

“Books ‘appear’ to me like movies in my head, all in the space of a few seconds. However, I may think about the book, and do research for many months before I begin writing.” – The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature.

“Elowen was marvellous company, with her strength, her courage, and her hope. As with all my books, I was sad finishing it, and at having to leave that other world.” – Scholastic NZ via NZ Booklovers.

“All my life I have felt great affinity with deaf people, and have loved sign language. For several years I worked with profoundly deaf children in schools, and spoke with them through signs. Marnie’s dealings with Raven – her difficulties, frustration, despair, joy, and triumph – are all things I have experienced.” – Simon & Schuster.

“I’m not one of these people who wants to talk about the weather, you know. I like to talk about things that really matter.” – The Sapling (2018).

“I just wanted to write something about a pirate that pirates would never ever do, so I wrote about a boy pirate that loved ballet.” – Bay of Plenty Times.

Bibliography

1981 The Silent One by Joy Cowley (illustrations): Deaf and non-verbal Jonasi was sent from the sea as a baby to grow up in an isolated Pacific Island village. Separated from the villagers by his silence and their prejudices, Jonasi finds solace in his underwater world where he develops a special relationship with a huge white turtle. However, the superstitious villagers see both Jonasi and the turtle as evil spirits. A series of natural disasters and a struggle for leadership within the village sweep Jonasi toward his strange destiny.
1982 Tell-tale by Joy Cowley (illustrations): Story chest, Stage 6.
1983 Mouse by Joy Cowley (illustrations): A mouse leaves his hole to go and find cheese in a house.
1985 Mouse Monster by Joy Cowley (illustrations): Katie Mouse pretends to be a monster which terrifies her parents while they perform everyday domestic tasks, but is then comforted by her father when she is herself frightened by a sudden wind gust.
1984 The Firewind and the Song (self-illustrated): Kagyusha Publishers.
1986 Matthew’s Monsters: It’s a long way to the letterbox… Matthew encounters tigers, crocodiles, lions, and a dinosaur on his way to fetch the mail.
1988 No Problem Pomperoy! Friendly and seemingly innocent Pomperoy comes to stay for a weekend, and while everyone thinks that’s ‘no problem’, he quickly shows that he’s a dog with a mind of his own and a talent for sniffing out mischief wherever he goes.
1989 Kittens: Food and Fun/Literacy 2000 Stage 1.
1989 The Wobbly Tooth (Safe and Sound): Emma’s family wanted to help her wobbly tooth come out, but she was afraid it would hurt. When she bit into an apple, the tooth came out all by itself and it did not hurt. What a happy ending to a perplexing problem!
1990 Babysitter Bear: When Mum goes off to play drums at the concert, she arranges for the Employment Agency to send a babysitter. But the agency mixes up the addresses and Brody and Katherine end up with a very different kind of babysitter – to Brody’s horror and Katherine’s delight.
1990 Rocco (A Time of Darkness – USA): Rocco has suddenly appeared in a different time and in an unknown location – in the valley Anshur where he is taken in by a primitive tribe whose members live closely connected to nature. He is challenged in everything he knows and all his abilities – in everything he brings with him from his usual, modern life.
1991 The Juniper Game: 14-year-old Juniper finds herself psychically linked with a young woman who was burned as a witch in medieval England. Juniper drags her best friend, feckless Dylan Pidgley, into her experiments with telepathy because he is a fantastic artist who can draw the scenes she transmits. Juniper’s mother warns Dylan that Juniper can be heedless, but Dylan is too fascinated by Juniper and their experiments to stop the dangerous crossing of the boundaries of time and space.
1991 The Wednesday Wizard (Denzil, #1): Denzil is a mischievous young wizard in training. His master Valvasor has been away for several weeks, and Denzil is getting hungry for his favourite honey and hedgehog pie. He does not consider himself a thief, but on the odd occasion he has been known to be a burglar (being a burglar is fair more honourable and daring than being a thief). So, he visits Mother Wyse’s cottage and tries to find her stores of honey. Unfortunately, Mother Wyse catches Denzil in the act and informs him that he is in mortal danger.
1992 Denzil’s Dilemma (Denzil, #2) (Wizard for a Day – USA): Borrowing a wizard’s magic book to so that he and his friend Samantha can enjoy a little excitement, Denzel gets them stuck in medieval England, where they encounter everything from witch hunters to rat killers.
1992 Winter of Fire: Born into a dark world trapped forever in icy winter, Elsha is a child of the Quelled, a branded people doomed to mine firestones to warm the Chosen, the ruling class. But Elsha has visions and uncommon strength of spirit. Condemned to death on her 16th birthday for defiance, Elsha is saved when she is called to be Handmaiden to the Firelord – the most powerful being in her world, the only one with the gift of divining firestones. Viewed with distrust by the Chosen who now surround her, she has a bitter fight ahead to strive for a better world for her people.
1993 The Other side of Midnight: Suffering from grief over his parents who died of the plague, Joel is taken by his sister Jessie to Midnight, a woman said to have great healing powers. But when villagers suggest that Midnight is a witch, Jessie begins to worry.
1994 Tanith (Wolf-Woman – USA): Tanith has grown up as part of a savage, plundering clan, in a world ruled by brute strength, superstition, and animal cunning. Now, hated and shunned, Tanith flees human society for the more humane company of wolves. But the gentle son of a chief from a neighbouring clan beckons her back. He offers Tanith the chance to join once again with her own kind. She must make her final choice of which cry to answer – the wavering, longing bellow of the human or the steady, beating call of the wolf.
1995 Sign of the Lion: Minstrel is a child of pledge – pledged the night of her birth to Griselda, a woman with healing powers. On Minstrel’s 12th birthday, Griselda comes to claim her. Minstrel learns all she can from Griselda until Griselda’s cruel ambition is revealed, and a choice must be made.
1996 Secret Sacrament (Secret Sacrament, #1): Terrified, a young Navaron child watches helplessly from his hiding place as a young Shinili woman is brutally beaten and abused by a group of drunken Navaron men. Too frightened to answer her pleas for help, the child runs away, taking with him the sacred bone carving of the Shinili people. In doing so, he forever binds himself and his fate to them. Gabriel is no ordinary boy. His life is now marked out for greatness by powers beyond his understanding.
1997 Denzil’s Great Bear Burglary (Denzil, #3): Denzil has never seen anything as wonderful in his medieval village before. But his enjoyment turns to horror when he discovers what it is that makes the bear dance. Denzil must find the dancing bear a safer home – but lands in terrible trouble with his master, the great wizard Valvasor. There is only one thing for if; Denzil and the bear will have to go and live with his friend Sam and her family, seven centuries into the future!
1999 The Raging Quiet: 16-year-old Marnie has married a widower twice her age in order to save her family’s home. The newly married couple arrive at the remote seaside village of Torcurra, where Marnie witnesses a young man, Raver (later Raven), tied to a whipping post so the villagers can lash out the devil they believe inhabits him. Widowed just two days into her marriage, Marnie finds herself spurned by the townsfolk who suspect she caused her husband’s death. She has only two friends: the local priest and Raven, the local mad man. When Marnie discovers that Raven is actually deaf and frustrated, not mad, the two start to develop their own sign language, forging a deep bond. But the suspicious villagers see Raven’s transformation as evidence of witchcraft, and suddenly Marnie finds herself facing an ordeal that threatens not only her future with Raven, but her very life.
2002 The Hunting of the Last Dragon: Everyone thought all the dragons had been wiped out – until a fierce flying beast appears and leaves the village of Doran in flames. There is only one survivor: Jude, an ordinary man who never intended to be a hero. He would rather avoid any danger, but a strange, strong-willed girl from a distant land has her own plans for hunting the last dragon. Can her courage and cunning help him conquer his fear in time to save their world from devastation?
2007 The Silver Dragon (Denzil, #4): Denzil lives in a time when monks copy books by hand using quills and ink, writing on parchment made from animal skins. Books are rare and very precious, and only the rich can ever learn to read. However, Denzil has travelled by magic to the future and there, in the home of his friend Sam, he has seen books made on machines – and suddenly Denzil wants to invent such a machine… But as usual, Denzil’s spell gets out of hand and puts himself, and his friends from the future, and even the history of his world, in the most terrible danger.
2007 Time of the Eagle (Secret Sacrament, #2): “I was the first child born to a hunted people, in the first winter of their flight. My earliest memory is of being carried on my mother’s hip across barren plains, with wild mountains all around, and of rough tents made of skins stretched across sticks planted in the dust, of hunger and thirst and a feeling I did not like or understand, but which I know now was the fear that shadowed my people, as a wolf shadows a wounded deer.” 16-year-old Avala dreams of becoming a healer, but her dreams differ from her destiny. Hers is a mighty but lonely fate, for she is the chosen one – the one who will bring the Time of the Eagle, when the hunted will become the hunters and win back their freedom. It is a destiny that requires the spirit of a warrior and the heart of a healer. But does Avala have the courage to set the Eagle on its flight?
2010 Finnigan & the Pirates: A Fine Fandango: Wildbloode the Wicked is the fiercest, most ferocious pirate in all the seven seas. All she wants is for her nephew to follow in her footsteps. But Finnigan’s not interested in piratical pillaging. All he wants to do… is dance [inspired by Sherryl’s 11-year-old grandson Kael’s love of pirates].
2011 The Last Summoner: Ari longs to be a dragon summoner like her famous grandfather Poppy Loddo, but it is forbidden. According to the ancient laws only boys are allowed to summon dragons. But there is something special about Ari – the secret song of the dragon summoners came to her in a dream and it seems that she has an important destiny. Ari is able to discover this destiny when the new King Valguard commands Poppy Loddo to summon the dragons from the swamp. The Kingdom’s long-time enemies from the Kingdom of Dalenia are advancing and King Valguard needs the dragons to fight with his men. Poppy is given no choice but to obey the new King; because he is blind, Ari must accompany him on his journey.
2012 Ransomwood: With her uncle threatening to marry her off to his odious widowed brother, Gwenifer is almost relieved to be sent away to escort the magistrate’s old, blind mother to Ransomwood, where the tears of the statue of the Holy Mother are said to have healing qualities. She and Harry, the village halfwit who is escaping a sentence of hanging for being in charge of an ox that trampled a child almost to death, embark on a perilous journey … each of them looking for a different kind of healing.
2013 Fishtales Far-Fetched and Foul: Five fabulous fishing stories – from a story about an eel that grows too big for the house, to one that teaches a cruel lad a lesson he will never forget, and a story of a world in which sea levels have risen so high that people live permanently at sea on floating islands.
2013 The Freedom Merchants: In 1615, corsair pirates from the Barbary Coast prowl the coasts of England and Ireland, attacking ships and raiding villages for slaves to sell to masters in the Mediterranean. When 13-year-old Liam’s brother is captured, Liam is desperate to get him back and travels with a small band of monks to the heart of the pirate world, into the turmoil of religious persecution, and the horrors of slavery.
2018 Rafferty Ferret: Ratbag: “Rafferty was starving. He was also homeless, motherless, fatherless, penniless, and (if he wasn’t very careful) on his way to being lifeless as well.” Rafferty is an orphan, raised by monks in the medieval world, but after misfortune strikes he is outcast from the monastery and must fend for himself. He uses his cunning and charm to develop a trade for himself as the town’s ratcatcher… and rat liberator.
2018 The Anger of Angels: In a world where it is a crime to speak against injustice, a jester dares to perform a play that enrages a powerful tyrant prince. The jester’s daughter, Giovanna, must journey into the heart of danger to turn back the terrible consequences unleashed by her father’s words – and becomes entangled in a treacherous plot to overthrow the prince. She alone holds a secret which, if made public, will end the prince’s reign, and liberate his oppressed people.
2019 Wynter’s Thief: Fox is a fringe dweller, with a T branded on his cheek that marks him a thief. He lives on his wits and moves from village to village. As the story opens, he sees a commotion and finds Wynter, chained by her father, working as a water diviner. She finds water for the drought-strapped village, but they turn on her and want to burn her as a witch. Fox rescues her and together they flee. They dream of finding a safe place they can settle and resolve the unanswered questions about their past. But she is being pursued… and he is a thief.
2021 The King’s Nightingale: When Elowen and her brother are seized by pirates and sold, separately, in the slave market of a distant land, Elowen’s enduring resolve is to escape, rescue her brother and return home. Sold to a desert ruler who admires her sublime voice, Elowen is given the title of the Kings Nightingale. Honoured by the king, and loved by his scribe, Elowen lives a life of luxury, until she makes a fateful mistake and finds herself sold to a less charitable master.

Awards

1980 Whitcoulls: National Illustrating Competition winner 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 Juniper Game
1992 AIM Children’s Book Awards: Fiction shortlist for The Wednesday Wizard
1993 AIM Children’s Book Awards: Junior Fiction shortlist for Denzil’s Dilemma
1993 University of Iowa (USA): International Writing Programme Fellowship
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 (Wolf-Woman)
1995 Esther Glen Awards: Shortlist for Tanith (Wolf-Woman)
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
1997 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards: Shortlist for Secret Sacrament
1997 Whitcoull’s New Zealand Top 100 Books for Winter of Fire
1999 Best Book in Translation Award (Belgium) for Secret Sacrament
1999 The USA School Library Journal: Best of Award for The Raging Quiet
2000 Junior Library Guild selection for Secret Sacrament
2000 Storylines Notable Book Award: Senior Fiction list for The Raging Quiet
2001 Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award: For her contribution to children’s literature, publishing, and literacy.
2001 Wirral Paperback of the Year for The Raging Quiet
2001 Buxtehude Bulle Prize: Best Young Person’s Book of the Year for The Juniper Game
2002 IBBY Honour Book Writing for The Raging Quiet
2005 Storylines Notable Book Award: Young Adult Fiction list for The Hunting of the Last Dragon
2008 Esther Glen Awards: Shortlist for Time of the Eagle
2008 Storylines Notable Book Award: Young Adult Fiction list for Time of the Eagle
2010 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book for Denzil’s Dilemma
2011 Storylines Notable Book Award: Junior Fiction list for Finnigan and the Pirates
2011 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards: Best Junior Fiction for Finnigan and the Pirates
2013 Storylines Notable Book Award for Ransomwood
2014 Storylines Notable Book Award for The Freedom Merchants
2019 Storylines Notable Book Award for Rafferty Ferret, Ratbag
2019 Storylines Notable Book Award for The Anger of Angels
2020 New Zealand Children’s and Young Adult Book Awards: Shortlist for Wynter’s Thief
2020 Storylines Notable Book Award for Wynter’s Thief
2021 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards: Young Adult Fiction shortlist for The King’s Nightingale
2021 Storylines Notable Book Award for The King’s Nightingale

Sources

Bookrapt: Sherryl Jordan.
Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Jordan, Sherryl 1949- (Sherryl Brogden). Retrieved December 11, 2023, from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/jordan-sherryl-1949-sherryl-brogden
Geni Profile: Alan Vivian Brogden.
Geni Profile: Patricia Ita Brogden (Cornwall).
Geni Profile: Sherryl Rose Jordan (Brogden).
McCauley, Debbie (2013). Sherryl Rose Jordan (1949- ).
McCaullum, Zac (2013). Fast Five with Sherryl Jordan. My Best Friends are Books.
Murray, Mererina (1996). Sherryl Jordan; Children’s Author.
National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. Sherryl Jordan.
Radio New Zealand (2014). Writing for the young adult market.
Radio New Zealand (2019). Lately Book Club: Catherine Woulfe.
Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. Sherryl Jordan.
Storylines Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki. Sherryl Jordan.
SunLive (2011). Writer wins national award.
SunLive (2021). Tauranga author makes awards shortlist.
SunLive (2023). Celebrating 40 years of children’s literature.
Woulfe, Catherine (2018). Sherryl Jordan: The Deep Quiet Pools of the Mind. The Sapling.
Woulfe, Catherine (2019). Rejoice! The best book in the world is being republished today. The Spinoff.

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