The Demon Headmaster

When Dinah is fostered by the Hunters she thinks her biggest problem will be fitting in with her foster-brothers, Lloyd and Harvey. However, once she starts at her new school it's clear that there's more to worry about. All the children, apart from a handful including Lloyd and Harvey, are too well-behaved - robotic almost - and oddly keen to please the creepy headmaster. The three children set out to discover the nature of his influence over everyone . . . but then Dinah finds herself saying and doing things she has no power over. Soon they uncover the headmaster's wicked plan. Controlling the school is just a practice run. He has set his sights on dominating the entire nation! The children must foil him before he succeeds . . . but with Dinah under his spell they've got a challenge on their hands. Great fun and just a little bit frightening, Gillian Cross's beloved classic still holds readers under its hypnotic spell, even after thirty years of being in print. An accessible page-turner, The Demon Headmaster is impossible to resist.

TLS

"A rattling good yarn."

School Librarian

"A light-hearted, funny and ingenious story."

Good Book Guide

"An excellent mystery with an unusual setting."

Daily Telegraph

"Gillian Cross is one of the best children's novelists today and her stories of the Demon Headmaster are both fun and quite frightening."

Read it Daddy

"Brought bang up to date with contemporary references and in-jokes that kids can fully engage with and understand, Gillian is hugely talented and it's fabulous to see this new book ready to give kids the odd headmaster-related nightmare."

Books for Topics

"The Demon Headmaster has proven popular in the classroom for over three decades and provides a good starting point for discussing how a school or society would look without the liberty to be individuals."

Read it Daddy

A rattling good yarn. ― TLS A light-hearted, funny and ingenious story. ― School Librarian An excellent mystery with an unusual setting. ― Good Book Guide Gillian Cross is one of the best children's novelists today and her stories of the Demon Headmaster are both fun and quite frightening. ― Daily Telegraph Brought bang up to date with contemporary references and in-jokes that kids can fully engage with and understand, Gillian is hugely talented and it's fabulous to see this new book ready to give kids the odd headmaster-related nightmare

Book Description

It's impossible to resist.

About the Author

Gillian Cross has been writing children's books for over thirty years. Before that, she took English degrees at Oxford and Sussex Universities, and she has had various jobs including working in a village bakery and being an assistant to a Member of Parliament. She is married with four children and lives in Dorset. Her hobbies include orienteering and playing the piano. She won the Carnegie Medal for Wolf and the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Children's Novel Award for The Great Elephant Chase.

Reviews

News