Robert Leeson

Robert Arthur Leeson (31 March 1928, Northwich, Cheshire – 29 September 2013) was an English author, mainly known for his children's books. Before becoming a writer, he worked as Literary Editor of the left-wing British newspaper the ''Morning Star''.

Leeson was a prolific writer, having had more than 70 books for young people published between 1973 and 2003. His books include several historical novels, such as ''Beyond the Dragon Prow'', about a crippled Viking boy. Leeson produced a trilogy about a British family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: ''Maroon Boy'' (1974), ''Bess'', and ''The White Horse'' (1977). ''The White Horse'' revolves around a young man who fights on the Roundhead side during the English Civil War. Leeson also wrote ''The Third Class Genie'' (1975) (a humorous fantasy novel), and the science-fiction ''Time Rope'' (1986) and ''Zania Experiment'' (1993) series. Leeson wrote social realist novels such as ''It's My Life'' (1980), about a teenage girl who has to look after her family after her mother walks out on them. ''Silver's Revenge'' is a humorous sequel to ''Treasure Island'', and ''Candy for the King'' is a fairytale about a giant influenced by Voltaire's ''Candide''. Leeson's ''Reading and Righting: the past, present and future of Fiction for the young'' (1985) is a history of children's literature. He also wrote for radio, television and the theatre. Provided by Wikipedia