Debut novel tipped to become children’s classic

A MOVING novel chronicling the life of an 11-year-old boy dying of leukaemia has been named among the best debut works of 2008.

Sally Nicholls was awarded the Glen Dimplex New Writer of the Year award for her debut novel Ways To Live Forever, which describes the determination of 11-year-old character Sam to come to terms with his life-threatening illness.

The story follows the young boy obsessed with facts as he finds out about science, ghosts, what it feels like to kiss a girl, and dying — the question nobody will answer.