W 2002 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards: Junior Fiction for her first novel, "Recycled".

Sandy McKay is better known for her novels for young readers. She won the NZ Post Junior Fiction Award for Recycled in 2002 and is highly regarded for her gentle, insightful writing style. She's held the Writer in Residence at the Dunedin College of Education and has received many accolades for her books. In One Stroppy Jockey, her skill ss a biographer is clearly evident. Here she displays a graceful empathy for her subject and a quiet control of her material.