Margaret Mahy

I am very sad to see the passing of Margaret Mahy.

She was one of those authors who stands alone, who doesn't need comparison to anyone else and who is so unique and charming and imaginative that she is memorable to every one who reads her work.

Margaret Mahy was one of the first authors who taught me that children's literature can set the bar enormously high for all the literature you read from then on and into your adulthood. She taught the world that children are to be respected and are worthy of the prolific life work of a genius.

Margaret Mahy was one of the first authors I ever read who presented my own country and my own people to me.

Margaret Mahy was not afraid to be colourful and unique and eccentric. I could still learn a lot from the way she lived life.

Her YA novel The Tricksters is one of the few novels that is placed firmly on my list of Books That I Think Are Written Perfectly.

She really was a giant to me, as a New Zealander, an aspiring author and a woman.