Sally Nicholls (born 22 June 1983) is a prize-winning

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

children's book

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Life

Nicholls was born and grew up in Stockton-on-Tees,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She attended Great Ayton Friends' School until its closure and subsequently

Egglescliffe School Egglescliffe School & Sixth Form College is a large Coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Egglescliffe, area also known as Eaglescliffe. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. History Beginning ...

until 2001.Sally Nicholls
All About Me!
, retrieved 2008-02-29. On finishing school, Nicholls chose to travel around the world. She reached Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, following a period of working in Japan at a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

hospital. She returned to the United Kingdom to begin a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

at the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

, covering Philosophy and Literature. Completing her undergraduate degree, she signed up to continue with

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshire. The insti ...

, taking their "Writing for Young People"

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, offered by the School of English and Creative Studies there. As of 2012 Nicholls lives in Oxford.The Northern Echo
'All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls'
2012-03-22. She is a regular at Quaker meetingsSchool Library Association
24-year-old debut author wins Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize
2008-02-14. including Young Friends General Meeting.

Writing

Publications

Nicholls' first three novels all have death as the central theme. Her first novel, '' Ways to Live Forever'', was written during her time at Bath Spa. The story is that of an 11-year-old child called Sam who is dying of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

(a form of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

), written as the scrapbook of the child.Write Words
Sally Nicholls Interview
2007-04-24. This book was published by Marion Lloyd Books, part of Scholastic Press in January 2008. It was made into a

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

of the same title released in 2010. Her second book was ''Season of Secrets'', based on a pagan summer god, or

green man The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every Spring (season), spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of ...

. This novel originally had the working titles ''The Green Man'' and ''The Midnight Hunter''.Sally Nicholls
Hello there!
retrieved 2008-02-28. It was published in April 2009. Her third book, ''All Fall Down'', is about a 14-year-old girl in the year of the Black Death, as she experiences the deaths of many of her family and neighbours, and struggles to save her surviving family. It was published in 2012, also by Marion Lloyd Books. Her fourth book, ''Close Your Pretty Eyes '', is about 11-year-old Olivia, who has spent most of her life in the care system, with many different foster parents, most of whom she has despised and treated badly. In the book Olivia believes that she encounters the ghost of

Amelia Dyer Amelia Elizabeth Dyer (née Hobley; 1836 – 10 June 1896) was an English serial killer who murdered infants in her care over a thirty-year period during the Victorian era of the United Kingdom.

, real 19th-century baby-farmer who murdered many of the babies she was paid to care for. Her fifth book, ''An Island of Our Own'', is about 12-year-old Holly, who with her older and younger brothers form a "a family in hardship". Motivated by Holly, they search for a buried treasure. g Nicholls contributed to Mystery & Mayhem by

Egmont Publishing The Egmont Group (formerly The Gutenberghus Group) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishing but has over the years evolved to comprise mass me ...

, published in May 2016 along with 11 other authors including

Julia Golding Julia Golding (born 1969), pen names Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards, is a British novelist best known for her ''Cat Royal'' series and '' The Companions Quartet''. Biography Born in London, 1969, she grew up on the edge of Epping Forest. She orig ...

, Katherine Woodfine, Clementine Beauvais, Elen Caldecott, Susie Day, Frances Hardinge, Caroline Lawrence, Helen Moss,

Kate Pankhurst Kate Pankhurst is a British writer and illustrator, known for a series of children's picture books. She won second place in the 2002 Macmillan Prize for Picture Book Illustration. Early life Kate Pankhurst was raised in Liverpool, England. She ...

, Robin Stevens and Harriet Whitehorn. Her sixth book, ''Things a Bright Girl Can Do'', published in 2017, is a historical novel set in England between 1914 and 1918. It centres around three young women, their involvement with the Suffragette movement, and the effects of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on their lives.

Recognition

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

New Voices children's prize 2006, for short-story ''All About Ella''. *

Waterstone's Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is there ...

2008, for ''Ways to Live Forever''. Presented to her by

Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the 'Waterstones Children's Laureate' is a prestigious position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their fie ...

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Early life Michael Wayne Ro ...

on 13 February 2008.Waterstone's Children's Book Prize winner
, 2008-02-13. In 2009, Nicholls won the Bolton Book Awards for Ways to Live Forever *

Glen Dimplex GlenDimplex (formerly known as Glen Electric) is an Irish based consumer electrical goods firm headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is privately held, with manufacturing and development centres in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingd ...

New Writer of the Year 2008, overall winner, for ''Ways to Live Forever''. Nicholls was presented with the prize and a cheque for €20,000 by Martin Naughton on 10 November 2008 in Dublin. * , for (German language translation of ''Ways to Live Forever''). The prize was presented on 11 February 2009 in Hamburg and shared with the translator Birgitt Kollmann. * ''Ways to Live Forever'' (''Wie man unsterblich wird'') has been shortlisted for the 2009

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

.Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
* Ways To Live Forever was shortlisted for the Redbridge Book Awards 2009 as part of the children's nominees.

References

External links

Sally Nicholls

Ways to Live Forever

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Sally 1983 births Living people English children's writers English Quakers Alumni of Bath Spa University Alumni of the University of Warwick British children's writers