Malorie Blackman

08 February 1962

MB , British Children's Laureate for 2013-15, had by the end of that period published more than sixty books for ages ranging from little children to young-adult readers. Only a small selection of her oeuvre can be considered here. She is known for fast-paced, page-turning stories and in her books for teenagers a willingness to tackle uncomfortable themes like organ transplant, racism, even terrorism. She is a strong advocate for multicultural inclusiveness in the world portrayed in children's fiction. She is the first Black British writer to sell more than a million copies of her works.

Holmes, Karen et al. “Introduction”. Noughts and Crosses, Pearson Education, 2011, p. v.

Introduction

Some of her books have now been processed for classroom use with teaching aids or simplified versions.

BirthName: Malorie Blackman

Milestones

8 February 1962

MB was born in Clapham, South London, two years after her parents had immigrated there from Barbados.

“Contemporary Authors”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Centre-LRC.

Cain, Sian. “Malorie Blackman: ‘Children’s books still have a long way to go before they are truly diverse’”. guardian.com, 23 Aug. 2014.

(23 August 2014)

Arana, Victoria, editor. Twenty-First-Century "Black" British Writers. Gale, 2009.

15 January 2001

For the first time MB directly addressed the topic of racism, in a book for young adults entitled Noughts and Crosses, set in a society where the fair-skinned people (noughts, sometimes called by the terrible derogatory name of blankers) are oppressed by the darker-skinned people (Crosses or colloquially daggers).

Blackwell’s Online Bookshop. http://Bookshop.Blackwell.co.uk.

Biography

Birth and Family