Jan Mark was born in Hertfordshire during the Second World War. She would have been born in London, but her mother had been evacuated. She moved around a lot as a child, and ended up in Oxford. Sadly, she died suddenly from meningitis on 16 Jan 2006.
Jan Mark was one of the most distinguished authors of books for young people. She was twice awarded the Carnegie Medal for her novels Thunder and Lightnings and Handles; and also won the Penguin Guardian Award, the Observer Teenage Fiction Prize and the Angel Award for Fiction. Click here to see more of her books
