Bernard John Ashley (born April 1935) is a British author of books for children and young adults. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''The Trouble with Donovan Croft'', published in 1974, won "The Other Award", an alternative to the Carnegie Medal. ''A Kind of Wild Justice'' (1978), ''Running Scared'' (1986), and ''Little Soldier'' (1999) were commended runners up for the Carnegie Medal from the

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, recognising the year's best children's book. The first two have been reissued by

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in their Children's Modern Classics series, the third re-issued in a 15th anniversary edition. Ashley's TV drama ''Dodgem'' (based on his own novel) won the

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Award for Best Entertainment programme (BBC) in 1993.

Biography

Born in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, south London, Ashley trained as a teacher at Trent Park College of Education after his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

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. His teaching career included thirty years as headteacher, his most recent schools being in south and east London, experience which gave the setting for many of his stories. He has recently been awarded an honorary Doctorate in Education by the

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

and an honorary Doctorate in Letters by the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

. In the early sixties, Ashley completed an account of the lifeboat service for children, ''The Men and the Boats'', first in the Serving Our Society series published by Allman & Son. Another in the SOS series was his ''Weather Men'' (1971), about the meteorological service. He is now working full-time as a writer. His children's books present a gritty realism that children identify with, which provides a context for empathy and compassion for the underdog, and a desire for decency, justice and morality. They are often set in urban environments plagued by poverty and crime. Some are set in wartime, including his 24th full-length novel for young people, ''Shadow of the Zeppelin'' (2014), and his 25th, ''Dead End Kids'' (2015). His latest novel is "Does She Dare?' (Troika 2017) set in 1911 featuring a young feminist hero.

Selected works

* ''The Men and the Boats: Britain's Lifeboat Service'' (London: Allman, 1968) – "The men and the boats; Britain's life-boat service"
Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 25 August 2012. * ''Dave'' (1971) * ''The Trouble with Donovan Croft'' (1974) – or * ''Terry on the Fence'' (1975) * ''All My Men'' (1977) * ''A Kind of Wild Justice'' (1978) – * ''Break in the Sun'' (1980) * ''Dinner Ladies Don't Count'' (1981) – * ''I'm Trying to Tell You'' (1981) – * ''Dodgem'' (1981) * ''Linda's Lie'' (1982) * ''High Pavement Blues'' (1983) * ''Your Guess Is As Good As Mine'' (1983) – * ''A Bit of Give and Take'' (1984) * ''Janey'' (1985) * ''Running Scared'' (1986) * ''Clipper Street: Calling for Sam'' (1987) * ''Clipper Street: Taller Than Before'' (1987) * ''Bad Blood'' (1988) * ''Clipper Street: Down-and-Out'' (1988) * ''Clipper Street: The Royal Visit'' (1988) * ''Clipper Street: All I Ever Ask'' (1989) * ''Clipper Street: Sally Cinderella'' (1989) * ''The Secret of Theodore Brown'' (1989) * ''The Caretaker's Cat'' (1990) * ''Country Boy'' (1990) * ''Chrysalis'' (1990) * ''Getting In'' (1990) * ''The Ghost of Dockside School'' (1990) * ''Seeing Off Uncle Jack'' (1991) * ''Dockside School Stories'' (1992) * ''More Dockside School Stories'' (1992) * ''Three Seven Eleven'' (1993) * ''Johnnie's Blitz'' (1995) – * ''Justin and the Demon Drop-Kick'' (1997) – * ''Roller Madonnas'' (1997) * ''A Present for Peter'' (1997) * ''Flash'' (1997) * ''City Limits: Stitch-Up'' (1997) * ''City Limits: The Scam'' (1997) * ''City Limits: Framed'' (1997) * ''City Limits: Mean Street'' (1997) * ''Tiger Without Teeth'' (1998) – * ''Hannibal Route'' (1999) * ''Justin and the Big Fight'' (1999) – * ''Rapid'' (1999) * ''Little Soldier'' (1999) – ( US & Canada) * ''Respect'' (2000) – * ''Playing Against the Odds'' (2000) – * ''Justin Strikes Again'' (2001) – :: also published as ''Justin and the Grandad War'' (2009) – * ''Revenge House'' (2002) – * ''Freedom Flight'' (2003) – * ''Close Look, Quick Look'' (2004) * ''Torrent!'' (2004) – * ''Ben Maddox: Ten Days to Zero'' (2005) – * ''Ben Maddox: Down to the Wire'' (2006) – * ''Smokescreen'' (2006) – * ''Ben Maddox: Flashpoint'' (2007) – * ''Angel Boy'' (2008) – * ''Solitaire'' (2008) – * ''No Way to Go'' (2009) – * ''Ronnie's War'' (2010) * ''Aftershock'' (2011) * ''Dive Bombing'' (2012) * ''Hero Girls' (2012) * ''Jack and the German Spy'' (2013) * ''Shadow of the Zeppelin'' (Orchard Books, 2014) * ''Nadine Dreams of Home'' (2014) * ''Dead End Kids'' (2015) * ''The Way It Is'' (2015)

Picture books

* ''Cleversticks'' (1992) – * ''A Present for Paul'' (1996) – * ''King Rat'' (1998)- * ''Growing Good'' (1999) – * ''Who Loves You, Billy?'' (2000) * ''Double the Love'' – (hardback) or * ''The Bush'' (2003) –

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Bernard British children's writers People from Charlton, London Media and communications in the Royal Borough of Greenwich 1935 births Living people