Deborah Fajerman
Deborah Fajerman is the author/illustrator responsible for bringing the languages of cows and sheep to a wide audience. Her colourful and funny picture books How to Speak Moo and Baa for Beginners are available in the UK and America. Perfect for loud and giggly reading together with young children.
Brian Keaney
Brian Keaney lives in London and Leitrim in the West of Ireland. He has written eighteen novels for young people which have been shortlisted for a number of awards and translated into a dozen languages. His most recent book, The Magical Detectives will be published in January 2011.
S. I. Martin is novelist and historian, specialising in Black British history and literature. His first children’s novel, Jupiter Williams, was published in 2007 to widespread critical acclaim. A thriller set in London in 1803, it follows the fortunes of young Jupiter who lives at the African Academy in Clapham with other boys from elite Sierra Leonean families. Jupiter’s search for his missing younger brother takes him far from the relative ease of life in Clapham into another London where poor black communities (slave and free) struggle for survival along the squalid reaches of the Thames …
His follow-up, Jupiter Amidships, is published this summer
Kara May
Kara May’s Yeti Boy was long-listed for the Carnegie Award, her first picture book Knickerless Nicola won the Nottingham Acorn Award. Children’s books include Joe Lion’s Big Boots about a small lion who longs to be bigger-taller and The Dream Snatcher (now a musical) where only orphan Jodie can save the town from the Dream Snatcher when the people fail to dream him the dreams he paid for (‘Exciting and thought-provoking,’ Observer).
Kara also writes plays, and is a tutor in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Sarah Mussi’s first novel, The Door of No Return won the Glen Dimplex Children’s Book of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award. It is a mystery adventure starring Zac and his pact with his grandfather who is obsessed with a Returnto Africa plan and a lost ransom in gold belonging to his ancestors. As awarding judge, Kevin Crossley-Holland writes:
‘… a modern adventure novel rooted in the terrible actuality and legacy of the African slave trade.’
Her second novel, The Last of the Warrior Kings, published in April 2008, is a fast-paced tale which keeps you on the edge of your seat charting the downfall of Max, a black hoody from South London, who is determined to redress history and avenge his brother’s death by restoring the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
Samira Osman
Sam Osman was born in London to an English mother and aSudanese father. She read modern languages at CambridgeUniversity before joining the BBC Sam now lives in London with her husband and three children. Her interest in ley lines, stone circles and the discoveries of the prehistoric astronomers led to the creation of Quicksilver, her first novel for children.
Peggy Woodford
Peggy Woodford has written over twenty books, mostly teenage fiction and novels for adults. She’s just published a new novel, this time for readers of 10 years up: One Son Is Enough, set in 18th century Ottoman Turkey. When twins Osman and Iskander are torn apart by the Sultan’s decree, Osman vows to free his brother from slavery in the royal palace, despite seemingly impossible odds – a huge country to cross, enemies at every turn, and an impregnable palace. Miranda, 11, says in a review ‘I couldn’t put it down.’ Peggy is now working on a new novel about young Italians caught up in the Siege of Constantinople, 1453.
