Michelle Magorian is undoubtedly one of the pre-eminent children's writers of historical family drama. She trained to be an actress in Paris and while pursuing acting, became interested in children's books. She wrote her fist novel for young readers over the course of four and a half years and is best-known for Goodnight Mister Tom . It won numerous awards including the Guardian children's fiction award and has sold in excess of 1.2 million copies in the UK alone, as well as being adapted into a BAFTA award-winning TV fim starring John Thaw.