A story of life, loss, families and football "Can you tell mum we're here?" Mia looks embarrased. "She'll want to see Jesse," I say, thinking, actually, does anyone really want to see Jesse? "She always looks in on him." Mia knows this. She must have been through Jesse's football injury dramas a hundred times with mum. "You're mum's not on the ward, Luke," says Mia. She takes my hand in hers. I know there's something up now. Nobody over thirty ever holds the hand of someone past the age of eleven unless something really awful has happened. "She's not very well, Luke. Your mum collapsed on the ward." Luke's life is rudely interrupted when his mum, Pat, collapses at the hospital where she works as a nurse. Thoughtful Luke, aged 14, and his accident-prone younger brother Jesse each cope in their own ways - Jesse with his football obssession, Luke with the help of his books and his friends Jack and Freya. Time goes on and it becomes clear that Pat is not going to recover, and Luke's world rearranges itself, while friends and family rally round. Nothing can lessen the sadness when Pat dies-but life keeps moving stubbornly on for Luke and Jesse. A life-affirming story about one of the worst things that can happen to a young person - full of sadness, but also shot through with humour and hope. AUTHOR: Damian Kelleher is a freelance journalist, writer, publishing consultant and project manager, specialising in the field of children's media. He was a book editor fot Young Telegraph and T2, the Telegraph's teenage supplement launched in April 1999, and has reviewed for the teen press, The Sundat Times, The Financial Times and the TES. He is a frequent contributor to Radio 4's Front Row and Radio Scotland's art show. He frequently chairs children's book events at Literary Festivals and most recently chaired events for the Richard and Judy Children's Book Club. He is married and lives in north London with his wife and two teenage children. This is his first full-length novrl for young people.