Ruth Thomas (4 January 1927 – 25 August 2011) was an English author of children's fiction. For her first novel, The Runaways, she won the 1988 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, an annual book award judged by a panel of British children's writers. Thomas was born in Wellington, Somerset, England, to two primary school teachers. Her books draw on her own experiences as a primary school teacher, at first in East London; during the 1980s in Kensal Green, north west London. Books include The Runaways (1987), The Class that Went Wild (1988), The New Boy (1989), The Secret (1990), Guilty (1993), The Paper Bag Baby (1993) and Hideaway (1994). References External links Ruth Thomas At RandomHouse English children's writers Schoolteachers from Somerset Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners Alumni of the University of Bristol 1927 births 2011 deaths Place of death missing