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Puffin has signed up James Holland, war historian and presenter to BBC2's Battle of Britain documentary series, to write a WWII children's series for 9-12 year olds.
Shannon Park, executive editor for Puffin, bought world rights to two books from Patrick Walsh at Conville & Walsh. The children's publisher said the Duty Calls series, for children aged 11+, would be among its "biggest new boy brands for 2011". Duty Calls: Dunkirk will be released in June 2011 with Holland to tour schools as part of the marketing and publicity campaign.
Park said: "The idea for this book came from a request from boys who said they wanted to read about the reality of the Second World War. No special operations or secret regiments but the grim and gritty day-to-day actuality of war. Added to the pace and energy of a contemporary adventure series, this promises to be a fantastic combination.
"James Holland is without doubt the perfect author for Duty Calls –a dedicated historian who knows how to tell the facts in an action-packed way. I can’t wait to get this into the hands of very willing readers."
James Holland said: "I’m very excited to be working on this project with Puffin. It’s particularly inspiring that this is a topic that young readers have asked to read about, and I look forward to giving them an insight into what it was like for the ordinary soldiers involved in the Second World War."