Back to Blackbrick

Story

Cosmo lives with his grandparents. His grandad is beginning to show signs of memory loss and Cosmo may be taken to live elsewhere. His grandad gives him a key to the gates of Blackbrick Abbey and Cosmo finds himself meeting his grandad as a young man.

Why we chose it

Time travel and time slip stories have always been popular. Back to Blackbrick combines time travelling with a very contemporary theme - a teenager living with a grandparent who is losing memories to Alzheimers.

Where it came from

This is Sarah Moore Fitzgerald’s first novel. Her own father had Alzheimers and she writes with the knowledge of what it means for the person who has it and those who look after him.

Where it Went Next

In 2015 Patch of Blue took a stage adaptation written by Alex Howarth to the Edinburgh Fringe and then to London’s West End.

Associated stories

Sarah Moore Fitzgerald has also written The Apple Tart of Hope, A Very Good Chance, The List of Real Things and A Strange Kind of Brave.

Other books for children which look at dementia and its impact include The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham, The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donaghue and Heartbeat by Sharon Creech.