Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Kiran Millwood Hargrave was born in Surrey in 1990, and her earliest ambition was to be a cat, closely followed by a cat-owner or the first woman on Mars. She has achieved only one of these things, but discovered that being a writer lets you imagine whatever you want.
She started writing poetry in her final year at university, producing three poetry books and a play before she turned to fiction. Her bestselling debut The Girl of Ink & Stars, about a mapmaker’s daughter who must save her island, won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2017 and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. Her second standalone story, The Island at the End of Everything, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and the Costa Children’s Book Award, and long listed for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her third book, The Way Past Winter, was the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year 2018.
Kiran lives in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and the fulfilment of one of her earliest ambitions: their cat, Luna.
Books
The Girl of Ink and Stars
Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Publisher: Chicken House
Interest age: 10+
Reading age: 10+
When her closest friend disappears into the island's Forgotten Territories, Isabella Riosse volunteers to guide the search. A stunning debut, full of myth, magic and mapmaking.
The Island at the End of Everything
Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Publisher: Chicken House
Interest age: 10-14
Reading age: 10+
Amihan lives on the secluded island of Culion with her sick mum, who has leprosy. But when the government decides the island must be quarantined, Ami and all the children who don’t have the disease are forced to leave – while her mum must stay behind, along with everything Ami has ever known.
The Way Past Winter
Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Publisher: Chicken House
Interest age: 9-12
Reading age: 9-12
Mila lives alone with her sisters and brother in a land where a harsh winter came the year her father disappeared. When her brother vanishes too, Mila sets out on a dangerous journey. A thrilling adventure with the feel of a beautiful modern-day fairytale.