When I was a boy I counted to a million. It took me the whole of one Summer holiday. I don't quite remember why I did it, I just did.
It just so happened that I was exploring the idea of writing a novel about the endemic violence in South Africa at the same time as I was reading a book of personal reminiscences about WW1 and the millions who died in the trenches. And out of this The Boy who Counted to a Million emerged - daily murders in South Africa, the horrific killing of WW1, my counting to a million…
Most of it is real. All the references to the events of the First World War actually happened; all the violent South African incidents are based on real-life events and, of course, I did count to a million. This is, without doubt, my most special novel for young people and it never fails to move me when I read it.
The Boy who Counted to a Million won the Sir Percy Fitzpatrick Award for Youth Literature in 1996