Jamila Gavin Jamila Gavin was born in Mussoorie, India, and moved to England with her family when she was eleven. She has been writing bestselling children's books since 1979 and her many works include The Surya Trilogy, the first volume of which was a special runer-up for the 1992 Guardian Children's Fiction Award. She won the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award in 2000 for her novel Coram Boy. Read More Read Less