Hannah Gold
Hannah Gold is a British author whose debut novel established her as an exciting new voice in middle grade fiction, particularly in the growing genre of environmental and conservation-themed stories for young readers. Gold grew up with a deep love of nature and wildlife that informs her writing at every level — she writes about animals and wild places with the kind of specific, passionate attention that comes from genuine fascination rather than research alone. Her background working in film and television as a writer gave her strong instincts for narrative pacing and visual storytelling that translate effectively into fiction.
Gold’s debut novel, The Last Bear (2021), follows eleven-year-old April as she travels to a remote Arctic island with her scientist father and discovers a lone polar bear — a species not seen on the island for decades. The novel is a celebration of the bond between a child and a wild animal, a meditation on climate change and the loss of wild places, and a coming-of-age story about loneliness, courage, and the connections that make life meaningful. The book won the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story and was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award, establishing Gold as a major new talent in British children’s fiction.
Gold’s subsequent novels, including Finding Bear and The Lost Whale, have continued her exploration of the relationship between children and endangered animals, and of the urgent environmental concerns that define our moment. She writes about climate change and species loss with honesty and sorrow but without despair, finding in her child protagonists and their animal companions a source of genuine hope. Her books are designed to inspire children to care about the natural world and to believe in their own capacity to make a difference.
Hannah Gold’s writing is characterized by its emotional warmth, its vivid evocation of wild landscapes, and its ability to make young readers fall in love with creatures and places they may never encounter except through the pages of her books. She writes with the kind of wonder and urgency that the environmental crisis demands, and her fiction has already made a measurable difference in how young readers think about the natural world and humanity’s responsibility to protect it.