Nine-year-old Lizzie Short is street smart and spunky. She needs to be, for living on the streets in the harsh environment of Eastside London in the early 19th century, has been anything but easy, especially for a girl. Lizzie, however, is no ordinary girl and when her four friends are deported to Australia (at beginning of the story) for merely stealing food, she finds herself forced to begin a new life and she is up for the challenge.
This Canadian bestselling novel is the heartwarming story of a homeless young girl who through a series of incidents, changes the direction of her life and soon gains a reputation for her compassion, credible business decisions, and imaginative feats of daring adventure.
Lizzie has an intriguing way of dealing with people - her friend, Quon Lee, the Chinese boy who lives in a barrel, her adopted father, Joe, and the many other memorable characters of all ages and walks of life who frequent the dockland area on the Thames. The combination of loyalty, frivolity and family life depicted in this remarkable story of ordinary working-class people is an excellent achievement lacking both sexual innuendo and scenes of gratuitous violence.
Recognized internationally as a delightful, multi-cultural, multi-generational read, these books are applauded by homeschoolers, libraries and school teachers in many countries. This volume has also been recommended reading for at least several colleges and university English Lit. classes.
Whittle has also written the bestselling series, the Victoria Chronicles (Bound by Loyalty and Loyalty's Reward) set in the Pacific Northwest (Victoria BC and Seattle WA) 1900-1917.
Robert Whittle was the eldest son, and second of 10 children, born to a poor farming couple in Yorkshire, England in 1933. He soon discovered he could excel in sports and cricket and as a 12 year-old he was a highly regarded wicketkeeper, going on to play professionally. His reputation for fast action and lightning reflexes helped both in cricket and later in the coal mines when he earned his degree as a mining engineer and led a special needs team in disaster and rescue work.
Almost three decades later when living in Canada, Robert took up writing while recuperating from a surgery necessitated by an old mining injury. His first published book, the Canadian bestselling, Lizzie: Lethal Innocence (first book in Lizzie Series) is applauded for its refreshing, light-hearted, and inspirational subject matter. He especially enjoys visiting schools and telling students about his life in England, his travels, books, and why he began to write.
Whittle has seven published novels. He and his wife, author, Joyce Sandilands, live in Victoria, BC, Canada. Robert has also produced an autobiographical cd of his own personals stories, "Laughing Through Life - Tales of a Yorkshireman."
