Hero the Highway Girl

Name: Hero the Highway Girl
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

by Penny Chrimes

Interest age: 9 to 12
Reading age: 8+

Published by Firefly Press, 2025

Adventure
Historical
Crime

About this book

As the richest girl in Georgian England, Hero Devine should want for nothing, but the only thing she truly values is her faithful wolf Flow.

With no parents to look out for her, Hero is at the mercy of her unpleasant grandmother and the villainous family lawyer Murdlock, who intend to marry her off to the highest bidder on her 13th birthday.

Meanwhile, infamous highwayman Gentleman Jack is actually just a boy, who is forced to steal to survive. He dreams of setting up his own stables, so he can care for his brave stallion, Diablo, and work with other horses.

Their paths cross one fateful night when Jack holds up Hero’s carriage and she demands to be kidnapped, insisting Jack teaches her how to be a highway girl.

While Hero is reckless and impulsive, Jack is cautious and considered, yet they have things in common too: both were abandoned as babies, neither have grown up with love, laughter or friendship, and each is searching for a better life.

Fast-paced and full of danger, this thrilling novel brings highway escapades in the Georgian period to life.

About the author

Penny Chrimes worked for many years as a journalist, both in print and television journalism. She spent 18 years working at Sky News, where she was Executive Producer for political programmes (winning a BAFTA in 2008 for Best News Coverage of Glasgow Airport terror attack). She has also produced, directed and written documentaries using oral histories (Tsunami: 10 Years after the Wave; 7/7: 10 Years On).

Penny now writes full-time for children. Her two middle grade titles, Tiger Heart and The Dragon and her Boy, are part of the Gutterling Chronicles, which follow a group of orphan children living in an alternate Victorian London, where magic lurks just under the surface.