Too Much Trouble Read online

  I looked up at Alice and her smile got even bigger, which didn’t seem possible.

  I unfolded and read the letter. It was in a different handwriting to the address, big, unjoined-up writing.

  Dear Emmanuel, my big brother,

  I hope you get this. The people I live with have been helping me to find where you live now. They are nice. They are called Jubrel and Ruth. They said that I should write to you. I have written my address and my phone number on the top, so you could write back if you wanted to.

  I wanted to write to you to say sorry. I was not always a good brother. I didn’t listen to what you said sometimes. I hope I didn’t let you down too much.

  I also want to say thank you. You are the best big brother in the world. You looked after me and I love you Em. I miss you.

  Please write back soon,

  Your brother, Prince Anatole

  PS Are you still a slow-coach?

  I smiled at that last line, through the tears that were gathering in my eyes.

  Alice touched me on the shoulder and said, ‘I’d like us to go somewhere today, Emmanuel. I’d like to take you to see someone very special.’

  ‘OK,’ I said.

  ‘Get your things together. You can bring your book. I’ll meet you downstairs in... five minutes?’

  ‘OK,’ I said again.

  ‘Oh, and bring your football,’ she said as she left my room.

  In the car I didn’t ask where we were going, but I hoped.

  We had driven for around half an hour when Alice said, ‘Right, I think this is us.’ We pulled into a road. There were big houses down one side of the road and a park on the other.

  We pulled up outside a house with a red front door and a black knocker. I got out and looked up at the house, and there in the front window was an even bigger smile than Alice had given me earlier. A huge smile on the most familiar face that I know.

  And for the first time since I had left Prince, I smiled.

  I smiled back at my brother.

  TOO MUCH TROUBLE

  is the winner of the 2010

  Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices

  Children’s Book Award

  The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award was founded jointly by Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories, in memory of Frances Lincoln (1945-2001) to encourage and promote diversity in children’s fiction.

  The Award is for a manuscript that celebrates cultural diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or the ethnic and cultural origins of its author.

  The prize of £1500, plus the option for Frances Lincoln Children’s Books to publish the novel, is awarded to the best work of unpublished fiction for 8-12-year-olds by a writer aged 16 years or over, who has not previously published a novel for children. The winner of the Award is chosen by an independent panel of judges.

  Please see the Frances Lincoln or Seven Stories website for further details.

  www.franceslincoln.com

  www.sevenstories.org.uk

  The running and administration of the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is led by Seven Stories, in Newcastle upon Tyne. Seven Stories is Britain’s children’s literature museum. It brings the wonderful world of children’s books to life through lively exhibitions and inspiring learning and events programmes. Seven Stories is saving Britain’s children’s literature by building a unique archive that shows how authors and illustrators turn their thoughts and ideas into finished books of stories, poems and pictures.

  Seven Stories believes that children should be able to choose books that reflect the lives of children from different cultures in the world today. Frances Lincoln, in whose memory the Award was founded, had an unswerving commitment to finding talented writers who brought new voices, characters, places and plots to children’s books.

  Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories gratefully acknowledge the support of Arts & Business for the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award.

  Tom Avery grew up in south-east London with two big brothers and one little sister. He followed in his father’s footsteps by training as a teacher at the University of Greenwich. Whilst training, Tom ran a church youth club in Lewisham, and then went on to teach in Greenwich and Birmingham. He now works at a diverse primary school in Camden Town, London. Much of Tom’s inspiration comes from the pupils he has taught and the stories they have shared, and much of his encouragement comes from his wife and his mum, who has always wanted him to be a writer. Too Much Trouble is his first published book.

  Tom lives with his wife, Chloe, and their two sons, in Islington, London.