Bali Rai has now written eight young adult novels for Random House Children's Books. His first, (un)arranged marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Brandford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Bali also writes the hugly popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers.

He was born in Leicester, where he still lives, writing full-time and visiting schools to talk about his books. www.balirai.co.uk