Two weeks with the queen door Morris Gleitzman

1. Title:
Two weeks with the queen.

2. Writer:
Morris Gleitzman.

3a. Number of pages:
The book has 106 pages (112 including dictionary).

3b. Number of chapters:
The book has sixteen chapters.

4. Publisher; time and place of publication:
Morris Gleitzman, Two Weeks With the Queen, Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, 2002. Young Blackbirds nr.1 (first published in Great Britain by Blackie & Son Lts, 1989).

5. Explanation of the title:
It describes the two weeks that Colin is in England because his parents think is better for him, so he doesn’t have to worry about Luke. The title also says something about the fact Colin is in England were the queen lives and wants to ask her to send the best doctors for his brother but he can’t reach her.


6. Fiction yes/no:
The book is not fiction.

7. Point of view:
The book has an I-perspective and a he/she-perspective.

8. Description of the main character(s):
Colin: he is the real main character of the book. His brother has cancer and is going to die because the doctors can’t do anything for him. Than Colin is send to England to his aunt Iris and Uncle Bob. When he arrives in England he decides to ask the queen for help and to send the best doctors for his sick brother.

Alistair: he is the son of Iris and Bob. He wants to help Colin but sometimes he thinks it’s too dangerous. Colin tells him about his plan to ask the queen for help. Once it’s night they go to Buckingham Palace and try to climb over the fence. Then a police man see them and take them to the office. Iris and Bob are very angry with Alistair and especially with Colin.

Ted: he is a gay man whose friend is in a hospital in London with cancer and AIDS. Colin met him at the main entrance of London’s biggest hospital. Colin tells Ted about his problem and what he is going to do. Ted is going to Colin and he also make an appointment with ‘the best doctor in the world’ so Colin can talk with him.

Griff: he’s Ted’s friend and he got AIDS. He is very happy when Colin brings Ted to him in a wheelchair when Ted’s leg is badly damaged so Ted could see Griff every day

Aunty Iris: she is the mother of Alistair and she is very angry when she knows about all the things Colin wants to do.


Uncle Bob: his is the father of Alistair but thinks it is Colin’s own responsibility what he wants to do.

Luke: he is Colin’s brother and he got cancer. It’s a very special kind of cancer and the doctors don’t know what to do.

Colin’s parents: their real names aren’t told in the book.

9. My opinion
It’s a very nice book. Also because it isn’t fiction. It’s a stirring story and I can imagine with Colin and his parents. In spite of that it in England a book is for children around ten years old I think it’s a good book for students of secondary school.

10 a. Beginning
The book starts when the Mudford family is sitting in the living room watching the Christmas Speech from the Queen. When Colin’s brother Luke faints on the floor the trouble begins…

10 b. Ending
The book has an open ending. It ends when Colin arrives back in Australia at the hospital where his brother is laying but the reader don’t now how it’s ending with Luke.

11. Genre
The genre of the book is adventure but it is also a little bit psychological.

12. Climax/anti-climax
Actually the book hasn’t got a real climax, only at the end of the book when Colin is back in Australia but his brother is still very ill.

13. Summary
During Christmas eve Colin, Luke, mum and dad are watching television. Suddenly Luke faints on the floor. They think Luke ate too much and that’s why he fainted. At first the doctors think Luke has got gastric, but to be sure they send a blood sample to the hospital in Sydney. After a few days the result announced Luke has cancer. Luke has to move to a hospital in Sydney for a better treatment. Mum and dad decide that it would be better for Colin if he moves to Aunt Iris and uncle Bob’s place in England. He’d rather go with Luke to Sydney but that’s not possible. Mum and dad don’t want to involve Colin with Luke’s illness, that’s why they take him to Aunt Iris and uncle Bob. When Colin arrives he can’t keep his mind of Luke. He thinks the doctors in Austria are being really slack so he thinks of a plan to cure Luke. Colin writes a letter to the Queen if she could lone their best doctor and if they would cure Luke. After a couple of days Colin still has no reply. He decides to go to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen. He goes there with Alistair who’s the son of Aunty Iris and Uncle Bob. When they get over there they try to climb over the wall but the lights of the police caught them. From now on Bob and Iris will lock the doors when they leave the house. Colin decides to find the “best doctor in the world” himself. He unlocks the lock of the back door with a screwdriver and sneaks out. Alistair thinks it’s not a good idea but Colin says he will be back before Bob and Iris come back. Colin calls a lot of people that would send him to the best doctor. After a while someone gives him an address to London’s biggest hospital. He decides to go to the hospital and searches for the best doctor. The doctor was busy with a demonstration and then Colin came in. He tried to talk with the doctor but he wouldn’t listen. All he said was that he was sure that the doctors in Sydney were doing their best to help Luke, but Colin kept on yelling to the doctor to help Luke. The doctor is annoyed of Colin and asks the nurses to remove Colin from the hospital. Then he went back home. The next morning he goes to the hospital again and just before he’s there he meets Ted, looking very sad. Colin asks him what’s wrong and he replies his friend is very sick. Colin asks if he has cancer and he nodded very sad. Colin could boot himself all over London for asking, of course he has cancer. Ted asks what Colin’s up to. He says he has to go to the hospital for his brother Luke to find the best doctor in the world. Ted says he knows a good doctor and he will have a word with him about Luke. Colin gives Ted the address of the hospital where Luke is and goes back home. The next morning Colin goes the hospital to see Ted. Ted says he talked to the doctor and they’re going to see the doctor. The doctor says Luke has a very special form of cancer which can’t be cured. He can’t help Luke either. Colin froze, if the best doctor couldn’t help Luke, then who can? He ran out of the hospital and tried to hide next to a car. He was angry at Ted and at the doctor who couldn’t help Luke. Ted finds Luke and gives him a piece of paper with Ted’s address and Colin goes back home. Colin thinks of a new plan to cure Luke. He wants to go to the Amazon and ask the people over there if they have a medicine to cure Luke. Two days later he goes to visit Ted. When he gets there they start talking about Griff (Ted’s friend.). Colin finds out they’re in love with each other. Ted’s been attacked by several boys because he loves men. His foot is badly damaged and he can’t walk. Colin takes him to the hospital in a wheelchair so he could still see Griff. The next day when Colin arrived Ted was very sad and told Colin Griff died (he had the AIDS virus). When he came back that day aunt Iris and Uncle Bob caught him on unlocking the backdoor and sneaking out every time. They were very disappointed and changed the lock. Alistair told everything about what Colin has done when they were away. He also tells about Ted and his friend Griff. Ted came over to Aunt Iris and Uncle Bob’s place. They talked a bit about Griff. Ted was going off because of Griff’s dead. Colin decided to meet Ted at the airport because he wants to go home to see Luke. Iris and Bob don’t want him to go but the next morning he sneaks out again, says goodbye to Alistair, gave him the screwdriver and give him instructions how to get to Australia when he had found out how to unlock the new locks. He met Ted at the airport and Ted signed the forms for Colin that had to be filled in to be able to go with the airplane. Ted and Colin said goodbye to each other and they left. When Colin arrived in Australia he went to the hospital in Sydney and there he saw Luke, very pale and sad. He hugged him like he would never let him go. For those moments he wouldn’t want to change with any other person in the world. Not even with the Queen.