[ home page ] [ channel4 ] [ writers toolkit ] [ secret passages ]
Gillian Cross
Gillian Cross is NOT scary - even though she invented The Demon
Headmaster!
Gillian has been telling stories for as long as she
can remember. She wrote her first story when she was six, and even
when she wasn't writing she was entertaining her friends on the way
home from school by telling them a long serial that whiled away the
Underground journey.
Gillian first got published in 1974 when two books
were accepted in one year - and she hasn't stopped writing since.
She's written over 40 books and won the Carnegie Medal and the
Smarties Prize. Her best-known books are the stories about The
Demon Headmaster who can control his school with his strange,
hypnotic eyes.
Gillian writes in a small, cold, dark room behind her
kitchen. It used to be a larder and it has no view so she cannot be
distracted. Gillian can write with both her hands, and with her
right foot - but not all at once!
When Gillian isn't writing she loves playing the piano
and orienteering (she once came first in a competition because
everyone else had given up!) Gillian has four children who she lets
read her books, but only when they are finished. Her favourite book
as a child was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her
favourites among her own books are Wolf and The Great Elephant
Chase.
Tightrope
Twenty feet up in the air, there's a clean wall with nothing on it. Ashley just has to tag it. But someone is watching Ashley. Someone knows that when she sets out at night to tag a wall she's different from the good girl they know in school. Who will tell? A daring suspense story. (12+)
Published by Oxford University Press
The Demon Headmaster
New to the school, Dinah immediately sees that there is something odd about the headmaster. Why does everyone do exactly as he says? He seems to have a strange power and Dinah is determined to find out exactly what it is. (9+)
Published by Oxford University Press
The Demon Headmaster Strikes Again
Dinah, Lloyd and Harvey hope to be off to a new start when they move schools and villages to escape from the Demon Headmaster. But what is the mysterious Biogenetic Research Centre and who is in control? Another story about the evil headmaster who is determined to bring everything under his control. (9+)
Published by Oxford University Press
Wolf
Something has gone frighteningly wrong. Cassy is packed off to stay with her mother but danger is threatening her and there seems to be no place to hide. Everywhere Cassy goes the dark, wolf-shape is stalking her. What does the wolf want? (12+)
Published by Oxford University Press
The Mintyglo Kid
Spag's terrible cousin Dreadful Denzil comes to stay, bringing his own supply of Mintyglo toothpaste. How will Spag and his friends Clipper and Barny survive the visit? Luckily they come up with a terrific plan. Things look as though they'll be fun after all. (9+)
Published by Egmont Books Limited
The Great Elephant Chase
Penniless and parentless, Tad and Cissie are on the run from the tyrannical Mr Jackson. But going on the run with an elephant is not easy. Where can you hide it? Together the two children - and the elephant - journey across America to find a new home, and safety. (12+)
Published in Puffin Books
[ home page ] [ author - flash version ] [ author - non-flash version ] [ other authors - text only ]
[ Windows Media Clip 1- Wolf ]
[ Windows Media Clip 2- I just ask myself the question... "What if?" ]
[ Windows Media Clip 3- I'm very aware of a ghostly audience ]
[ Windows Media Clip 4- I chose what I wanted to read ]
