James Heneghan was brought up in Liverpool,
England, and in Ireland, where his parents came from. He was a
police officer in Liverpool for a few years but decided to
immigrate to Vancouver, British Columbia. After five years, he
became a Canadian citizen. For twelve years, he worked as a finger
print specialist with the Vancouver Police before deciding to
become a teacher. He is now working with young people, teaching
English at a high school.
James Heneghan is today one of the most acknowledged authors of
historical fiction for children and young adults in Canada and the
USA. Like "Bank Job", his award-winning books often tell stories of
teenagers struggling to overcome personal difficulties.
He has won the Shelia A. Egoff Children's Literature Award
three times for his titles "Flood", "Wish Me Luck" and "The
Grave".
Norma Charles has written many books for kids,
including "The Accomplice", which was short-listed for the Shelia
A. Egoff Children's Literature Award. Like James Heneghan, she
lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
She worked as a librarian teacher for over ten years before
finally deciding to write full time. As the mother of four children
- two boys and two girls - Norma Charles has had plenty of
experience with children, and that experience has translated into
her novels "The Accomplice" and "All the Way to Mexico", as well as
several picture books.
She won the Coquitlam Pioneers first prize in 1989 for her short
story "Lum King" and a British Columbia Book Award in 2000 for
"Sophie Sea to Sea".
"Bank Job" was inspired by a real newspaper story of three teens
who robbed seven banks in the Vancouver area.