Black Hearts in Battersea

　　Simon is determined to become a painter when he grows up so he sets off to London to make his fortune. But the city is plagued by wolves and mysterious disappearances. The Twite household, where Simon is lodging, seems particularly shifty. Before he even gets a chance to open his glistening new paints Simon stumbles right into the centre of a plot to kill the King. And worse than that Simon is kidnapped and sent to sea! Luckily there are two friendly stowaways aboard - the feisty Dido Twite and the spoiled young Justin. But when the ship catches fire things look pretty dire. Can they escape? Will they save the king in time?

作者簡介

　　Joan Aiken was born in Sussex in 1924. She said, "There were very few children of my age for miles around so books were my friends". She grew up eager to be a writer "What I wanted to do was give somebody else the absolute joy and excitement and pleasure that I had myself". Aiken wrote over a hundred books for young readers and adults. She is most famous for creating a historical period that never existed that began with The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase (1962) and continued with Black Hearts In Battersea (1964), The Whispering Mountain (1968), for which she won the Guardian children's book prize, and Dido And Pa (1986). Joan Aiken died in 2004. For information on all her books see www.joanaiken.com