Battersby, a well-known sci-fi, fantasy and horror author, has not written explicitly for children in the past, but handles it with deftness and flair, breathing life into the characters and the clever, tangled story. Magrit is an accessible and engaging story for young readers aged nine and up, but also offers depth and opportunities for discussion for teen and adult readers. Books+Publishing

Lee Battersby is the author of several adult novels and over 70 short stories, published in Australia, the US and Europe. His work has been praised for its consistent attention to voice and narrative muscle, and has resulted in a number of awards, including the Aurealis, Australia Shadows and Australia SF "Ditmar" gongs.

Lee lives in Western Australia, with his wife, writer Lyn Battersby and an increasingly weird mob of kids. He's been a stand-up comic, tennis coach, cartoonist, poet, and tax officer in previous times, and he currently works as Arts Officer for a local council, where he gets to play with artists all day. Magrit is his first novel with Walker Books.