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Margaret Mahy (1936–2012)

Author of The Seven Chinese Brothers

254+ Works 11,442 Members 359 Reviews 24 Favorited

About the Author

Margaret Mahy was born on March 21, 1936 in Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She received a B.A. degree from the University of New Zealand. She worked as a nurse, an assistant librarian, and a children's librarian in England and New Zealand. Her first book, A Lion in the Meadow, was published show more in 1969. She became a full-time author in 1980. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 120 children's books including The Haunting, The Changeover, Memory, The Seven Chinese Brothers, The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate and A Summery Saturday Morning. She won the Esther Glen Award five times, the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association three times, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Hans Christian Andersen Award, and in 1999, she won the New Zealand Post Children's Book Award in two categories, Picture Book and Supreme Award. She died after a brief illness on July 23, 2012 at the age of 76. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Courtesy of Allen and Unwin

Series

Works by Margaret Mahy

The Seven Chinese Brothers (1990) 1,459 copies
The Changeover (1984) 847 copies
A Summery Saturday Morning (1998) 343 copies
The Haunting (1982) 332 copies
Bubble Trouble (1991) 325 copies
The Tricksters (1985) 312 copies
Catalogue of the Universe (1985) 280 copies
Maddigan's Fantasia (2005) 260 copies
17 Kings and 42 Elephants (1987) 255 copies
Memory (1987) 217 copies
Alchemy (2002) 208 copies
The Rattlebang Picnic (1994) 202 copies
The World in 1492 (1992) 192 copies
Down the Back of the Chair (2006) 192 copies
A Lion in the Meadow (1969) 175 copies
Aliens in the Family (1985) 164 copies
The Magician of Hoad (2008) 131 copies
The Pirates' Mixed-up Voyage (1983) 122 copies
24 Hours (2000) 117 copies
Underrunners (1992) 117 copies
The Other Side of Silence (1995) 109 copies
The Three-Legged Cat (1993) 107 copies
Dangerous Spaces (1991) 104 copies
Jam (1985) 86 copies
The Five Sisters (1996) 78 copies
Leaf magic (1976) 75 copies
The Horrendous Hullabaloo (1992) 61 copies
The Girl with the Green Ear (1992) 60 copies
The Green Bath (2013) 60 copies
The Man from the Land of Fandango (1600) — Author — 56 copies
Boom Baby Boom Boom (1996) 55 copies
When the King Rides By (1986) 53 copies
The Good Fortunes Gang (1993) 53 copies
The Horribly Haunted School (1997) 49 copies
Nonstop Nonsense (1977) 46 copies
Kaitangata Twitch (2005) 46 copies
Making Friends (1990) 44 copies
The Boy With Two Shadows (1987) 40 copies
The Christmas Tree Tangle (1994) 35 copies
Beaten by a Balloon (1997) 35 copies
Dashing Dog (2002) 35 copies
The Gargling Gorilla (2003) 35 copies
The Greatest Show off Earth (1600) 33 copies
The Dragon's Birthday (1863) 33 copies
Simply Delicious! (1999) 32 copies
The Pirate Uncle (1977) 31 copies
A Fortunate Name (1993) 30 copies
Clancy's Cabin (1974) 29 copies
Fantail Fantail (1989) 29 copies
Keeping House (1991) 27 copies
Mister Whistler (2012) 27 copies
Mr. Rumfitt (1987) 26 copies
The Queen's Goat (1991) 26 copies
Guinea Pig Grass (1987) 26 copies
The tree doctor (1987) 25 copies
Organ Music (2010) 23 copies
A Fortune Branches Out (1993) 23 copies
Don't Read This! : And Other Tales of the Unnatural (1994) — Contributor — 23 copies
Feeling Funny (1986) 22 copies
The Garden Party (1986) 22 copies
Crocodile, crocodile (1990) 22 copies
Bus Under the Leaves (1974) 22 copies
Midnight Story (1996) 21 copies
Down the dragon's tongue (2000) 21 copies
The New House Villain (1987) 21 copies
Trouble on the Bus (1986) 20 copies
Tangled Fortunes (1994) 20 copies
The Funny Funny Clown Face (1987) 19 copies
The Three Magicians (1990) 19 copies
The Spider in the Shower (1984) 18 copies
A Villain's Night Out (1999) 18 copies
No dinner for Sally (1989) 17 copies
The Margaret Mahy Treasury (2011) 16 copies
The Moon and Farmer McPhee (2010) 16 copies
Going to the Beach (1984) 15 copies
My Mysterious World (1995) 14 copies
The Adventures of a Kite (1985) 14 copies
Giant Soup (1984) 13 copies
Wibble-wobble (1984) 12 copies
The Mad Puppet (1987) 12 copies
A Very Wicked Headmistress (1995) 12 copies
The Wind Between the Stars (1976) 11 copies
Operation Terror (Surfers) (1600) 11 copies
The Dentist's Promise (1991) 10 copies
Portable ghosts (2006) 10 copies
An Elephant in the House (1986) 9 copies
The Tale of a Tail (2014) 9 copies
The Witch Dog (2014) 9 copies
Wait for Me! (2003) 8 copies
The Fiddle and the Gun ( (1992) 8 copies
The procession (1969) 7 copies
The Little Witch (1970) 7 copies
Mrs. Discombobulous (1969) 7 copies
The dragon's telephone (1994) 7 copies
Footsteps through the fog (2012) 6 copies
The Catten (1985) 6 copies
The Little Round Husband (1990) 5 copies
Aunt Nasty (2016) 5 copies
Leap year (1996) 5 copies
Me and My Dog (2003) 5 copies
The cake (1985) 5 copies
Pillycock's Shop (1969) 4 copies
Mrs Bubble's Baby (1983) 4 copies
The Earthquake (1985) 3 copies
Mr Rooster (1988) 3 copies
Arguments (Read-Alongs) (1986) 3 copies
The Baby-sitter (1988) 3 copies
Beautiful Pig (1988) 3 copies
The Great Car Clean-out (2002) 3 copies
A Good Knee for a Cat * (1997) 3 copies
Rooms for rent (1974) 3 copies
The Magician's Lunch (1986) 3 copies
White Elephants (1996) 3 copies
Off to the Shop (2001) 2 copies
The Bubbling Crocodile (1989) 2 copies
David's Witch Doctor (1976) 2 copies
Operazione terrore (2000) 1 copy
The Old Bus 1 copy
Look Under V 1 copy
Crocodile Lake (1997) 1 copy
Zerelda's horses (2005) 1 copy
De draaimolen (1987) 1 copy
De bende van Fortuin (1995) 1 copy

Associated Works

Young Warriors: Stories of Strength (2005) — Contributor — 623 copies
It's Great To Be Eight (1997) — Contributor — 263 copies
Free? Stories About Human Rights (2009) — Contributor — 119 copies
Best Shorts: Favorite Stories for Sharing (2006) — Contributor — 90 copies
The Wilful Eye (2011) — Contributor — 85 copies
The Kingfisher Treasury of Witch and Wizard Stories (1996) — Contributor — 66 copies
Centuries of Stories (1999) — Contributor — 58 copies
911: The Book of Help (2002) — Contributor — 49 copies
Celebrate Cricket: 30 Years of Stories and Art (2003) — Contributor — 43 copies
Bones: Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams (2011) — Contributor — 40 copies
The Picador Book of Contemporary New Zealand Fiction (1996) — Contributor — 32 copies
Dragons, Dragons, Dragons (1972) — Contributor — 19 copies
The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011 (2012) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Ghost Story Treasury (1987) — Contributor — 12 copies
Midnight Feast (2007) — Contributor — 10 copies
Snapshots (1995) — Contributor — 6 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 1977 (1971) — Contributor — 3 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 12, August 1977 (1970) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Discussions

RIP Margaret Mahy in The Green Dragon (August 2012)
YA Sci-fi/Fantasy Alchemist??? in Name that Book (August 2010)

Reviews

The extremely clever Margaret Mahy has written some wonderful poetry here. It begs to be read aloud, but it'll take you some practice to really pull it off.

Weirdly, when I was reading it, I thought of that scene in Anne of Avonlea (the movie) where Anne performs Tennyson's "The Highwayman" at a fancy event. I then had a brief daydream in which I dramatically recited Bubble Trouble while wearing puffed sleeves before a crowd of children. I think it would totally work without the illustrations.

Um, I think this review is starting to say more about me than the book, so I'll wrap it up. Due to length, I'd say this is best for ages 4 and up.
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Flagged
LibrarianDest | 26 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |
Oh my dear. Sooooo British.
 
Flagged
LibrarianDest | 44 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |
For a children's book, this one was rather nice. I found the writing to be poetic at times, but at other times, it was a bit too descriptive for me. The story was not bad, but perhaps a bit flimsy. Yes, there are several themes: Laura's relationship with her mother and how she feels about the mother's new boyfriend, Laura's relationship with the witch-boy Sorry and his journey back to having feelings, and of course the freeing of Laura's brother Jacko of an evil demon. I guess the different story lines are well done, but particularly the main one is a bit simplistic. Overall, the book was ok, but I'm not going to look for anything else by this author. I suppose I've outgrown this type of book after all...… (more)
 
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zjakkelien | 37 other reviews | Jan 2, 2024 |
This novel examines two aspects of memory through the main characters, 19 year old Jonny and an elderly woman, Sophie, suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. Jonny has been haunted for the last five years by the experience of witnessing his elder sister's death. His life has been derailed into booze and getting into fights, and on the anniversary of Janine's death he goes looking for the other witness, Janine's best friend Bonny, wanting to check whether his memory is really accurate. However, he encounters Sophie instead and soon finds himself becoming her caregiver despite his better judgement, especially when it seems she is being swindled by someone who is posing as her landlord.

As with other Mahy fiction, the characters are well fleshed out. The portrayal of Alzheimer's is all too convincing. A touching relationship develops as Jonny finds someone who needs him and in caring for her he gradually moves away from obsession with his own troubles, ironically finding answers to those along the way.

The book would be a good way of explaining this form of dementia to its original age range audience, but I think they would probably find the 1980s teenage trappings - a tape-based Walkman that Jonny relies on to blot out his surroundings being chief among them - and the lack of today's mobile phone culture too dated, which is a pity. I also found the story dragged a bit in the middle before it built up steam for the ending chapters, and I'm not convinced by the mild results of Jonny's dramatic action.

As far as the authorial decision to make two of the character names Jonny and Bonny, perhaps this is meant to drive home the way he has projected so much of his own fantasies onto his sister's friend so that she is almost an aspect of himself, but that could be reading too much into it. But if not it is an odd naming choice. On balance, a 3-star read.
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kitsune_reader | 5 other reviews | Nov 23, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
254
Also by
25
Members
11,442
Popularity
#2,056
Rating
3.8
Reviews
359
ISBNs
1,295
Languages
16
Favorited
24

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