Lisa Thompson (author)

Thompson was born and raised in the London Borough of Havering (Hornchurch, Upminster), England. After leaving school at age 16, she worked in insurance for a couple of years. In 1991, she joined the BBC, eventually becoming a radio broadcast assistant.{{cite web|last=Russell|first=Steve|url=https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/what-s-on/i-made-tea-for-benedict-cumberbatch-1-4867159|title=I made tea for Benedict Cumberbatch!|website=IPSWICH STAR|date=29 January 2017|access-date=13 March 2020}} She left the BBC in 2002 and later became a freelance radio broadcast assistant with an independent production company. At age 43, Thompson debuted her first book.

Thompson's debut novel, The Goldfish Boy, was published by Scholastic in 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lisa-thompson/the-goldfish-boy/|title=THE GOLDFISH BOY|website=KIRKUS|access-date=16 March 2020}} A review in Kirkus wrote that the book "strikes the perfect balance, seemingly without compromise, between an issue-driven novel and one with broad, commercial appeal." The Goldfish Boy was a national bestseller{{cite web|title=The Light Jar review – bleak but thoughtful page-turner|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/16/light-jar-lisa-thompson-review|last=Donaldson|first=Sarah|date=16 January 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=3 March 2020}} and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.{{cite web|title=Hadleigh author shortlisted for prestigious Waterstones Children's Book Prize for her book The Goldfish Boy|url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/hadleigh-author-shortlisted-for-prestigious-waterstones-children-s-book-prize-for-her-book-the-goldfish-boy-1-5385574|last=Gibbons|first=Amy|date=7 February 2018|website=East Anglian Daily Times|access-date=13 March 2020}}

The following year, Thompson published The Light Jar. The book was described in The Guardian as a "a thoughtful and hugely empathetic book". It was followed by The Day I Was Erased (2019){{cite web|last=Jones|first=Nicolette|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/childrens-book-of-the-week-the-day-i-was-erased-by-lisa-thompson-illustrated-by-mike-lowery-pc5whqpf7|title=Children's book of the week: The Day I Was Erased by Lisa Thompson, illustrated by Mike Lowery|website=The Times|date=20 January 2019|access-date=17 March 2020}} and The Boy Who Fooled the World (2020).{{cite web|last=Russell Williams|first=Imogen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/25/childrens-and-teens-roundup-the-best-new-picture-books-and-novels|title=Children's and teens roundup: the best new picture books and novels|website=The Guardian|date=25 January 2020|access-date=19 March 2020}}

Thompson's first novella, Owen and the Soldier (2019), was published by Barrington Stoke and became the first dyslexia-friendly title to be shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards.{{cite web|last=Cowdrey|first=Katherine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/blue-peter-book-awards-announce-shortlists-2020-1111206|title=Blue Peter Book Awards reveals shortlists for 2020|website=THE BOOKSELLER|date=7 November 2019|access-date=14 March 2020}} That same year, Thompson contributed a short story to Return to Wonderland, a collection of new stories set in Lewis Carroll's fictional world.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gk6CDwAAQBAJ|title=Return to Wonderland – By Various|via=Google – Books|isbn=9781529006865|access-date=19 March 2020|author1=Various|date=27 June 2019|publisher=Pan Macmillan }}

Her second novella, The House of Clouds, was published in 2020, and in 2021 The Graveyard Riddle (which revisited characters from her first novel, The Goldfish Boy) was followed by her third novella, The Small Things.

The Rollercoaster Boy and The Treasure Hunters were released in 2022 and 2023 respectively, as were Sidney Makes a Wish and Carrie and the Roller Boots, two stories for younger children with illustrations by Jess Rose, which were her fourth and fifth titles for Barrington Stoke.

Further books followed.

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Thompson is married to Stuart and they have two children, Ben and Isobel.

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• {{Official website|http://www.lisathompsonauthor.com/}}

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Category:1973 births

Category:People from Hornchurch

Category:21st-century English women writers

Category:English children's writers

Category:Living people

Category:Writers from the London Borough of Havering