Jake's Tower

It's good that I've found this place. I can come here and make plans. My main plan for the future is my dream home. It's very tall and thin. A tower, really. There'll be a lift to whizz me up to the top. No one can get at me up there. It's totally safe.

In real life, Jake is never safe. He lives in constant fear of his mother's violent boyfriend. But in his imaginary tower he can dream up his own father - the stranger who gave him a cuddle and a fluffy duck the day he was born and went away for ever. Jake doesn't believe that dreams ever come true. But sometimes they do - in strange and surprising ways.

Jake's Tower came to me right out of the blue. I felt as if Jake himself had tapped me on the shoulder, and asked me to tell his story. It was as if I was watching a film, and was allowed to see it only bit by bit. Every morning I would write down the story that had bubbled up inside me and then have to stop and wait, until the next part came. I don't know where Jake came from. When I'd finished the book, he seemed to turn and wave goodbye, then walk away from me into the mist.

Short listed for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Book Award