M. G. Leonard

M. G. Leonard, born Maya Gabrielle Leonard in Torquay, Devon, is an English author of children's fiction. She holds a first-class degree and a master's in Shakespeare Studies from King's College London, and before writing worked in the music industry—managing bands including the Divine Comedy and running Setanta Records—before moving into digital production at the National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe. Her debut, Beetle Boy, launched a trilogy about beetles as human companions that continued with Battle of the Beetles and won the 2017 Branford Boase Award. She later won the 2021 Sainsbury's Children's Book Award for Twitch and a CrimeFest award for best children's crime novel. With Sam Sedgman she co-writes the Adventures on Trains series, optioned for film, and her books have been translated into more than 40 languages.