Launched!

Today is publication day! My book is now available to buy online from retailers around the world, including Amazon.

Who is it for?

I hope anyone can read it and find something inspiring in it, but I know I didn’t write this for everyone. I wrote it for the child I taught a decade ago, and for the one I taught a few months ago.

When I think about the girl I based the character on, I remember year 4 parents’s evening. She had been working hard and I was able to tell her dad how well she was doing. I mentioned that it would be helpful if he could read with her at home – a very standard request, almost throwaway. This man looked at me with the weight of the world in his eyes. He tried to explain that being a single dad to four children, and working to cover the bills meant that he simply didn’t have the time or energy to read with his kids. He had turned up to speak to teachers, he made sure they came to school every day, had their basic needs met, and here I was, telling him it wasn’t enough.

And it wasn’t.

This is the unfortunate reality for so many parents. Life is hard, they have dragons to fight, and the children have to get on with things as best they can. We can’t blame the parents. We can’t blame the people trying their absolute best to just keep their heads above water. But we can see them. And we can see the children. The job of schools and social care has become more than just teaching and protection. It has become their job to spot the dragons, see the gaps and do their best to fill them. Do their best to ensure neither parent nor child are left alone.

As they left parents’ evening that day, I heard her say to her dad, “Did I do good?”. For the first time, I think, he was able to say, “Yes baby, I’m really proud of you.” She didn’t become a different person, and there were other teachers she clashed with along the way, but for that moment? She had been seen, and she was doing good.

This story is for her. For all the parents fighting dragons. For all the children whose parents are damaged, but do their best regardless. You are not alone.

This story is also for all the teachers and professionals who see these children for who they are. Who see the dragons the parents are facing, and step into the gap. It makes all the difference.

Note: If you or your parents are fighting dragons, please talk to someone. Let a trusted adult know what’s going on. If you are unsafe at any time, talk to someone as soon as you can. https://www.childline.org.uk/