This book was recognised by the Great Stone Face Book Award. It was recognised by the Nene Award.

This book has been graded for interest at 8-12 years.

There are 307 pages in this book. This book was published 2006 by Random House Books for Young Readers .

Paul Haven is a journalist who was, until recently, Bureau Chief of the Associated Press for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is now Bureau Chief for the AP in Cuba. He has a British wife and two young children. He spends a lot of time in London, not least because his in-laws are there! He has published one previous book in the US, TWO HOT DOGS WITH EVERYTHING (a fantasy novel about baseball) and has plans to follow up THE SEVEN KEYS OF BALABAD with a sequel.