Belinda Hollyer was born in New Zealand. She has lived in the Lebanon and Australia, and frequently visits the USA, but now lives mostly in London.

She has spent much of her adult life enjoying some combination of children and books - as a teacher, a teacher-librarian and a book publisher - and now writes fulltime (mostly for children).

Recent titles include VOTES FOR WOMEN (non-fiction, Scholastic), and SHE'S ALL THAT! (poetry anthology, Kingfisher) which has been selected by Child Education & Junior Education as one of the "Best Books of the Year" and by the American Library Association as a "Children's Notable Book".

Her first novel, THE TRUTH ABOUT JOSIE GREEN (Orchard), was published in 2006, as was YOU'RE THE BEST (story anthology, Kingfisher). Orchard published RIVER SONG in June 2007, and SECRETS, LIES AND MY SISTER KATE comes out in July 2007.

Set in New Zealand, RIVER SONG is a moving and exquisitely written coming-of-age story. Beautifully threaded with Maori culture, the story follows Jessye, a girl whose tumultuous life flits between her grandmother and her mother, as she tries to make sense of her family past and the secrets that lurk beneath the surface of all of their lives.