Sharna Jackson is a British writer of

children's fiction Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

.Rebecca Thomas
Author Sharna Jackson: Bringing diversity into children's books
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 17 April 2019. Accessed 7 June 2020. She is the author of a mystery series, aimed at middle-grade readers, featuring Nik and Norva, a pair of black sisters, who solve crimes on an estate, the Tri Estate, in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

.Charlotte Eyre
Knights Of buys debut by Sharna Jackson
''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddes ...

'', 28 September 2018. Accessed 7 June 2020. Jackson is also an influential curator in the arts, including working with

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

and

Design museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all fund ...

in London, and working as artistic director for

Site Gallery Site Gallery is an art gallery in Sheffield, England. It specialises in moving image, new media and performance based art. Site Gallery is based at Brown Street in Sheffield's Cultural Industries Quarter. It is an international centre for cont ...

in Sheffield from July 2018 to November 2020, engaging children in developing digital initiatives in the arts.

Life

Jackson grew up in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

. Before writing children's books she worked as a curator engaging children in the arts. The first book in Jackson's series, ''High-Rise Mystery'', has Nik and Norva solve a murder in their tower block during the hottest summer on record. ''High-Rise Mystery'' was shortlisted for the

Waterstones 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 the ...

in 2020. In the second novel in the series, ''Mic Drop'', Nik and Norva investigate the death of an up-and-coming pop star TrojKat, who has fallen from the tower roof.Imogen Russell Williams
Children's books roundup – the best new picture books and novels
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 30 May 2020. Accessed 7 June 2020.

Works

* (with James Lambert) ''Modern art: activity book''. London: Tate Publishing, 2014. * (with James Lambert) ''British art: activity book''. London: Tate Publishing, 2014. * ''High-Rise Mystery''. London:

Knights Of Knights Of, also known as Knights Of Media, is a London-based independent publishing house, specialising in publishing inclusive children's books. History Knights Of was founded in 2017 by Aimée Felone and David Stevens, who previously worked ...

, 2019. * ''Mic Drop''. London: Knights Of, 2020.

References

British children's writers Black British women writers Black British writers British women children's writers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Luton British women curators Writers from Bedfordshire {{UK-child-writer-stub