His novels although aimed at teenage audience deal with many adult themes and can be described as being complex, and dark such as the Novel - The Wheatstone Pond. His children's fiction includes The Machine Gunners (1975) which won the Carnegie Medal and was made into a BBC television serial in 1983.
He won the Carnegie Medal again in 1982 for Scarecrows, the Smarties prize in 1989 for Blitzcat and the Guardian Award in 1991 for The Kingdom by the Sea. His works have been translated into 10 different languages.
Westall was especially skilful at combining genre. His characters of any age are often set apart with strength of will and purpose that is the ultimate hallmark of his stories. While his Novel's touch upon the supernatural, they tend to avoid the realms of fantasy. The Devil on the Road is a particularly good example of Westall's elegance and refinement when dealing with the supernatural and of his ability to tell a story which is both introspective and gripping.
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