Bali Rai has written over forty novels about teenagers and children. Born in Leicester, his writing is inspired by his working-class, multicultural background. A leading voice in UK teen fiction, Bali is a passionate advocate of libraries, reading for pleasure and promoting literacy. He has nearly twenty years of experience in working with young people across the UK and further afield and is extremely popular with schools. He has been nominated for and won numerous awards since 2001.

Bali has worked closely with The Reading Agency, Booktrust, The National Literacy Trust, Empathy Lab UK and many other organisations, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by De Montfort University in 2014. He also featured on BBC1's Rebel Writers show and is an ambassador/patron for several high-profile literacy and arts projects. He was a Costa Book Award judge for 2019/20 and is currently working on two new titles. His latest book is Now or Never - A Dunkirk Story.

Amritsar, India, 1919. A city on the verge of meltdown, as tensions between the local people and the British colonial rulers explode.
12-year-old Arjan Singh learns that his father has been falsely charged with serious crimes and faces hanging. But there has been a terrible massacre in the city, as British troops fired on unarmed Indians, and the city is under curfew. Anger and fear have left the population seething and danger lurks around every corner.
Arjan sets out on a perilous mission to save his father, in the face of armed troops, martial curfew, and vicious local bandits. Can he escape and get to his father before it's too late?