Flyboy

15 year olds Jude Chalk and Eddie Bree have been best friends since pre-school. Both are huge Star Wars fans and share a love of running. When Eddie is given a terminal cancer diagnosis, he hands Jude his bucket list. Mission no.1 of 10, is to ask a girl out. Jude is horrified, terrified even, but does not want to let his best friend down. He gathers his courage and asks a new girl to the school,Tiggy Potts, on a date and is surprised to discover there’s a spark between them. But Tiggy has a secret that leaves Jude facing a difficult choice. Does he alert social services and risk losing her? Or does he pretend everything is fine?Meanwhile he is faced with Eddie’s final mission - a bungee jump. Terrified of heights, Judeovercomes his fears and leaps out over the river Tees. As he hurtles towards the water, hesuddenly understands what the bucket list is all about. Eddie Bree is gifting him experiencesthat will carry him through the dark days ahead. Grief-stricken after Eddie’s death, Jude spends days holed up in his room. Eventually, awarethat Eddie would be cross seeing him like this, he pulls on his running shoes and headsdown to the track where they used to train. Tiggy is there waiting for him, as she has beenevery morning since Eddie’s death. The spark Jude felt that first time he asked her out re-ignites. As he pounds lap after lap, he realises he owes it to his best buddy to embrace life and every damn thing it has to offer.

Debbie Roxburgh is a former SEND specialist and creator of social stories. This is her debut novel. Debbie describers her work, professional experience and writing history here:'I have spent a large part of my working life supporting children and young adults with specialneeds. Being immersed in that environment, I quickly became aware of the need for diversebooks. I currently volunteer with reading in a local primary school.I discovered my tribe in the online writing community, Write Mentor, where the support issecond to none. I write young adult, middle grade and lower middle grade books.I have always been an avid reader. My dad worked in the book trade so our house was alwaysfull of books and I would regularly devour a whole book in a day. One of my MG books was placed in the Chicken House Open Coop Competition and another shortlisted in the Skylark Marvellous Middle Grade Competition.In 2024 I won the Wells Festival of Literature Local Writer’s Award with Flyboy.'What or who inspires you?The young people I have worked with continue to inspire me to write. Being a part of theirlives and watching them grow is very much ingrained in my stories.How you came to write your novelOverhearing how some of the teenage boys I worked with communicated emotional issuesgot me thinking. There was an awkwardness around how they approached these kind oftopics, a fear of losing face and perhaps being seen as weak. Then one of them adopted thevoice of a well-known fictional character and immediately spoke more freely.This gave me the idea of placing two teenage boys in a highly emotional situation with theirshared love of all things Star Wars to help them through a challenging journey.