Theresa Breslin is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 author, primarily of young adult fiction. She began writing when working as a librarian, and has published 29 books, five of which have also been sold as audiobooks.

She started writing as a teenager; when a nearby steel mill closed, she was inspired to write a book about it.

Her novel Whispers in the Graveyard

Whispers in the Graveyard

Whispers in the Graveyard is a children's novel by Theresa Breslin, published in 1994. It won the Carnegie Medal, and is described on the Carnegie winners website as "a gripping, powerful and haunting story"...

, about a dyslexic

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...

 boy, won the Carnegie Medal

Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

 in 1994. Divided City

Divided City

Divided City is a novel written by Theresa Breslin and published in 2005 by Doubleday. The novel is written for teenagers and adults concerning the problems of sectarianism in Glasgow and racism against asylum seekers....

is her 8th book for the Doubleday list.

The Medici Seal

The Medici Seal

The Medici Seal is a young adult novel written by Theresa Breslin, published in 2006. Set among the cultural life and political intrigues of Renaissance Italy, it is the story of a boy who initially calls himself Matteo and his master Leonardo da Vinci....

, (August 2006) for which her research was extensive, with trips to study Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

’s most famous works, including the Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...

 and The Last Supper. The Medici Seal is a tale of intrigue, murder and betrayal which follows the journey of Matteo as he travels with Leonardo across Italy on the Borgia

Borgia

The Borgias, also known as the Borjas, Borjia, were a European Papal family of Italian and Spanish origin with the name stemming from the familial fief seat of Borja belonging to their Aragonese Lords; they became prominent during the Renaissance. The Borgias were patrons of the arts, and their...

s' business. Matteo carries with him a secret – a secret that both the Borgia and the Medici families

Medici

The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...

 would kill to obtain.

Works

• Across the Roman Wall (1997)
• Alien Force (1995)
• Blair Makes a Splash (1999) - 4 Stories
• Blair, the Winner! (1997) - 4 Stories
• Bodyparts (1998)
• Bullies at School (1993)
• Death or Glory Boys (1996)
• Different Directions (1989)
• Divided City
  Divided City
  Divided City is a novel written by Theresa Breslin and published in 2005 by Doubleday. The novel is written for teenagers and adults concerning the problems of sectarianism in Glasgow and racism against asylum seekers....
  
  (2005)
• The Dream Master (1999)
• Dream Master - Arabian Nights (2004)
• Dream Master - Gladiator (2003)
• Dream Master - Nightmare! (2000)
• Duncan of Carrick (2000)
• A Homecoming for Kezzie (1995)
• Kezzie (1993)
• The Medici Seal
  The Medici Seal
  The Medici Seal is a young adult novel written by Theresa Breslin, published in 2006. Set among the cultural life and political intrigues of Renaissance Italy, it is the story of a boy who initially calls himself Matteo and his master Leonardo da Vinci....
  
  (2006)
• Missing (1995)
• Name Games (1997)
• New School Blues (2002)
• The Nostradamus Prophecy (2008)
• Prisoner in Alcatraz (2004)
• Remembrance (2002)
• Saskia's Journey (2004)
• Simon's Challenge (1988)
• Starship Rescue (1999)
• Time to Reap (1991)
• Whispers in the Graveyard
  Whispers in the Graveyard
  Whispers in the Graveyard is a children's novel by Theresa Breslin, published in 1994. It won the Carnegie Medal, and is described on the Carnegie winners website as "a gripping, powerful and haunting story"...
  
  (1994)
• Prisoner of the Inquisition (2010)

Honours

• Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature - for Whispers in the Graveyard
  Whispers in the Graveyard
  Whispers in the Graveyard is a children's novel by Theresa Breslin, published in 1994. It won the Carnegie Medal, and is described on the Carnegie winners website as "a gripping, powerful and haunting story"...
  
  
• Awarded Honorary Membership of the Scottish Library Association for distinguished services to Children’s Literature and Librarianship
• Scottish Writers CD ROM (Project Manager) – Bafta nomination
• Selected for the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults, and New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age 2003.
• Civic Award from Strathkelvin
• Winner of the Scottish Book Trust Best of the Decade Award
• Winner of Young Book Trust’s Kathleen Fidler Award for Simon's Challenge
• Winner of the Sheffield Children’s Book Award - longer novel

Shortlisted for other awards

• The Children’s Book Award (twice)
• The Angus Book Award
• The Lancashire Book Award
• The Moray Book Award
• North-East Book Award
• The Sheffield Book Award (twice)
• South Lanark Book Award
• The Stockton Book Award

External links

• Theresa Breslin website