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Two Weeks with the Queen

by Morris Gleitzman

Interest age: 9 to 11
Reading age: 10+

Published by Penguin, 1999

  • Around the world
  • Classics
  • Coming-of-age

About this book

When his brother becomes seriously ill with leukaemia, Colin is sent to stay with relatives in England.

Determined to get the best help possible, he decides to approach the Queen, and failing her, the best cancer doctor in the world. Along the way, he strikes up a touching friendship with a gay man whose partner is dying from AIDS.

This incredibly moving tale is interjected with warmth and a lot of humour. A valuable book, particularly for those dealing with the terminal illness of a child.

About the author

Morris Gleitzman was born in Lincolnshire and moved to Australia in his teens. He worked as a paperboy, a shelf-stacker, a frozen chicken de-froster, an assistant to a fashion designer and more, before taking a degree in Professional Writing at Canberra College and becoming a writer.

He has written for TV, stage, newspapers and magazines but is best known for his hugely successful children's books including Two Weeks with the Queen, Bumface, and his series about Felix and Zelda, Once, Now, Then and After.  He has won the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award and been shortlisted for the prestigious Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

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