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Autistic Coatbridge schoolgirl tops Amazon's best sellers list with touching book on dying
@Source: glasgowlive.co.uk
A talented Coatbridge schoolgirl has topped Amazon's best sellers list with her rhyming book which speaks of a rather sensitive subject.
Grace McLuckie published her book 'Tom and the Monster Hospice' to Amazon on May 7 and by night-time it was already in the top 12 for children's books on death and dying. And it was also just a few copies away from beating David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny and Gangsta Granny Returns.
The incredibly talented 13-year-old, who is autistic, took matters into her own hands after she struggled to find a book explaining death following the sudden passing of her uncle ten months ago. Speaking to Glasgow Live, avid reader Grace explained the majority of books she found were all about how the loved ones left behind feel, but "not the person dying themselves".
That's when clever Grace decided to flip the script and write her own book based on how it feels to be the person dying, in this instance it's Tom the monster.
Speaking to Glasgow Live Grace said: "Why should all books explaining death and dying to children be so straightforward. I couldn't find a book which matched what I was looking for - it was all about the person still living and how the person who had died 'still loves you'. But I know that, I was looking for something that explained how the person dying felt."
Through rhyme, Grace - who has been writing since the age of five - was able to portray how it felt to be the person battling illness and eventually dying. In her last page, she uses an analogy to explain death, comparing it to a musical band. It reads: "Day by day Tom began to understand, his parents said your body is like a band.
"The band will keep playing until one fateful day your band will stop playing and that's okay.
"Tom's band had got tired and really quite slow so one day his music would stop and that day he would go."
Tom and the Monster Hospice is a story about a monster who isn’t so lucky. Grace explained: "Tom and his family lived a normal life, until one day Tom got sick and stopped going to school. This is a heart wrenching story with an important message."
The young writer's school, Mavisbank Additional Support Needs School in Airdrie, has been praised for encouraging Grace to follow her dreams and for pushing her out of her comfort zone. Grace joined the school just last August after struggling from a difficult time at her previous school, leaving her non-verbal for 18 months.
Mum Erin, 42, is "so proud" of her daughter. She added: "It can be difficult for children who are autistic and neuro-divergent, but Grace has taken her fixed mindset and used it to her advantage.
"I'm just so proud of everything she's done. I'm so grateful for everything the school do to help support and push her and develop her individual talents".
Grace, an incredibly talented writer, has sent copies of her book to children's hospices across Scotland, in the hopes to open the tough discussion around illness and death. One day she hopes to be an author at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, a goal that seems not so far away.
Grace has heaps of support behind her, including from two friends Lucy and Leah who have been her biggest fans since the book launched on May 7.
You can purchase Tom and the Monster Hospice here.
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