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Gillian Claire Cross (born December 24, 1945) is a British author of children's books. She won the 1990 Carnegie Medal for Wolf and the 1992 Whitbread Children's Book Award for The Great Elephant Chase. She also wrote The Demon Headmaster book series, which was later turned into a television series by the BBC in January 1996; a sequel series was produced in 2019.

Personal life and education

Gillian Clare Arnold was born in London on 24 December 1945 to James Eric and Joan Emma Arnold. As a girl, she attended the North London Collegiate School. She married Martin Cross on May 10, 1967.

Later, she received a Bachelor of Arts with first-class honours from Somerville College, Oxford in 1969, and a Master of Arts from the same university in 1972. In 1974, she received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Sussex.

Cross and her husband had four children.

Career

Before becoming a full-time writer, Cross held several different jobs, including acting as an assistant to a Member of Parliament.

In 1979, she published her first book, The Runaway. Three years later, she inaugurated The Demon Headmaster series of eight books (1982 to 2019). The same year, she also completed The Dark Behind the Curtain, a horror story illustrated by David Parkins and published by Oxford University Press. It was highly commended for the 1982 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. A Map of Nowhere, published in 1988, was highly commended for the 1988 Carnegie. Two years later, she won the Medal two years later for Wolf, which was also runner-up for the 1991 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

In early 2014, she became a patron for the Leamington Spa-based charity Cord, after their work in Sudan inspired her latest novel, After Tomorrow.

In the 2024 Dorset Council election, Gillian Cross contested Beacon ward as a Labour Party candidate.

Awards and honours

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (June 2023)

Three of Cross's books are Junior Library Guild selections: The Great American Elephant Chase (1995), New World (1995), and Pictures in the Dark (1997).

In 1987, The Horn Book Magazine has included two of Cross's books on their list of the best fiction of the year: Roscoe’s Leap (1987) and The Great American Elephant Chase (1993).

Bibliography

• The Runaway (1979)
• The Iron Way (1979)
• Revolt at Ratcliffe's Rags (1979)
• A Whisper of Lace (1981)
• The Dark Behind the Curtain (1982)
• The Demon Headmaster series:
  1. The Demon Headmaster (1982)
  2. The Prime Minister's Brain (1985)
  3. The Revenge of the Demon Headmaster (1994)
  4. The Demon Headmaster Strikes Again (1996)
  5. The Demon Headmaster Takes Over (1997)
  6. Facing the Demon Headmaster (2002)
  7. Total Control (2017)
  8. Mortal Danger (2019)
• Born of the Sun (1983)
• On the Edge (1984)
• Swimathon! (1986)
• Chartbreak (1986); US title, Chartbreaker
• Roscoe's Leap (1987)
• A Map of Nowhere (1988)
• Rescuing Gloria (1989)
• Wolf (1990)
• The Monster from Underground (2009)
• Twin and Super-Twin (1990)
• The Mintyglo Kid (1991)
• Gobbo the Great (1991)
• Rent-a-Genius (1991)
• Save Our School (1991)
• The Great Elephant Chase (1992); US title, The Great American Elephant Chase
• The Tree House (1993)
• The Furry Maccaloo (1993)
• Beware Olga! (1993)
• What Will Emily Do? (1994)
• New World (1994)
• The Crazy Shoe Shuffle (1995)
• Posh Watson (1995)
• Pictures in the Dark (1996)
• The Roman Beanfeast (1996)
• The Goose Girl (1998)
• Tightrope (1999)
• Down with the Dirty Danes! (2000)
• Calling a Dead Man (2001); US title, Phoning a Dead Man
• The Treasure in the Mud (2001)
• Dark Ground trilogy, or The Lost trilogy:
  1. The Dark Ground (2004)
  2. The Black Room (2005)
  3. The Nightmare Game (2006)
• Sam Sorts It Out (2005)
• Brother Aelred's Feet (2007)
• Where I Belong (2007)
• After Tomorrow (2013)
• Shadow Cat (2015)

Notes

1. ^ Cross was also a commended runner up twice, for Chartbreak (1986) and The Great Elephant Chase (1992).
   • Since 1995 there are usually eight books on the Carnegie shortlist. According to CCSU, some runners up through 2002 were Commended (from 1954) or Highly Commended (from 1966). The latter distinction was approximately annual from 1979, with 29 in 24 years including Cross alone in 1982 and three in 1988.
   • No one has won three Carnegie Medals (awarded for 1936 to 2011 publications). Seven authors have won two. Among the dozens to win one, Cross and Melvin Burgess also wrote two Highly Commended books (1966–2002). (Burgess was a runner up for The Cry of the Wolf when Cross won the medal for Wolf.)

References

1. ^ "Cross, Gillian (Clare)". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
2. ^ "Cross, Gillian 1945–". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
3. "The dark behind the curtain" Archived 28 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
4. ^ "Carnegie Medal Award" Archived 27 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 13 July 2012.
5. ^ (Carnegie Winner 1990) Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
6. "Leamington charity inspired new Gillian Cross novel". Leamington Observer. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014.
7. "Lib Dems pledge car park charges review as they take control of Dorset Council". Dorset Echo. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
8. "Junior Library Guild : The Great American Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross". www.juniorlibraryguild.com. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
9. "Junior Library Guild : New World by Gillian Cross". www.juniorlibraryguild.com. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
10. "Junior Library Guild : Pictures in the Dark by Gillian Cross". www.juniorlibraryguild.com. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
11. Book, Horn. "Horn Book Fanfare 1938 to present". The Horn Book. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
12. ^ "The British Invasion". Publishers Weekly. 1 July 2002. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
13. "Past Winners" (PDF). Costa Book Awards. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
14. "Best Books for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 29 September 2006. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
15. Eccleshare, Julia (25 May 2013). "Guardian children's fiction prize 2013 longlist - in pictures". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
16. "Awards: SIBA Finalists; Bread and Roses; Little Rebels". Shelf Awareness. 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Gillian Cross at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Gillian Cross at Fantastic Fiction
• Author profile and interview
• Gillian Cross answers questions about writing
• Gillian Cross at Library of Congress, with 37 library catalogue records

• English children's writers
• Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
• Costa Book Award winners
• Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
• Alumni of the University of Sussex
• People educated at North London Collegiate School
• Writers from London
• 1945 births
• Living people
• Labour Party (UK) politicians