Sally Gardner is the daughter of two lawyers, raised in Birmingham. Her parents separated and later divorced when she was five. Gardner recalls being badly bullied in school, even being nicknamed 'Silly Sally' on account of her then undiagnosed dyslexia. 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
Writer
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. Her first full-length novel was a breakthrough, as I, Coriander won the Smarties Prize in 2005. 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 by the American service Kirkus Reviews labels even The Red Necklacefantasy. The Double Shadow is historical fantasy that opens in 1937 Britain. Tinder is a historical novel set during the Thirty Years War. Maggot Moon won the Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, 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. 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. 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."
Five classic fairy tales retold and illustrated by Gardner in A Book of Princesses 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. The Magical Children series, originally published by Dolphin Paperbacks, comprises "stories about ordinary children who suddenly develop magical powers".
As writer only
I, Coriander
Lucy Willow
The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution
