M. G. Leonard is the bestselling writer of children’s books such as Beetle Boy, the Adventures on Trains series and The Twitchers books. They have won many awards, including the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year 2021, British Book Awards, Book of the year 2021 - Children’s fiction, China’s Children's Choice Book: Gold Medal 2018, the Branford Boase Award 2017, as well as being nominated three times for the Carnegie Medal and twice shortlisted for an Edgar. She spent her early career in the music industry running Setanta Records, an independent record label, and managing bands, most notably The Divine Comedy. After leaving the music industry, she directed and performed on stage, before becoming a digital producer for Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and Harry Potter West End. Maya is one of the founding authors of #Authors4Oceans, with Lauren St John, campaigning to reduce single-use plastics, and is a vice president of the insect charity Buglife.

 

Bibliography: Beetle Boy (2016), Beetle Queen (2017), Battle of the Beetles (2018), The Beetle Collector’s Handbook (2018), The Tale of a Toothbrush (2020), The Highland Falcon Thief (2020), Rex the Rhinoceros Beetle (2020), Kidnap on the California Comet (2020), Murder on the Safari Star (2021), Twitch (2021), Danger at Dead Man’s Pass (2021) Sabotage on the Solar Express (2022) The Arctic Railway Assassin (2022), Spark (2022), Clutch (2023), The Ice Children (2023), Feather (2024)