Book one of David’s Gift – available now in paperback and on Amazon Kindle.
David Adams is looking forward to the Easter holidays, when he will be free of the school bullies for two whole weeks. However, a close encounter in the woods changes everything. When he stumbles on the remains of a crashed spaceship, David is gifted with strange and dangerous telekinetic powers.
When people start to disappear all over town, David and his new friends Carrie and William are the only ones who realise that an alien invasion is about to happen right under their noses, and the adults of Graveldene no longer be trusted. If David can’t learn to control the power within him, it may spell the end of everything they hold dear…
Meet the characters
DAVID ADAMS: Hi, I’m David. Who am I…? I’m nobody, really. Just your average unpopular kid. I’m clumsy and slow and I don’t talk much because I have a stutter.
Friends? No, not really. The other kids mostly ignore me, but I’m fine with that as long as they don’t pick on me. Stephen, James and Patrick bully me all the time. I wish they’d leave me alone. Bunzer loves me, though – he’s my dog, and he’s the best boy ever.
I’d love to go into space one day, but it’ll never happen. Exciting things like that don’t happen to ordinary kids like me.
STEPHEN BAILEY: Davey is such a loser. He has no mates and can’t even speak properly. Whenever I take his lunch money, he gives me this injured look like I’m supposed to care. If he can’t even stand up for himself, I can’t be held responsible, can I?
CARRIE DUNMORE: Hi! My name’s Carrie and I’d like to be a doctor one day. I love wildlife and can name lots of different animals, birds and plants. But because I like to read and learn about all that stuff, I don’t think most of the other kids really get me, you know?
David…? I don’t really know him, but then nobody does. He’s so shy… he sits alone at the front of the classroom and tries not to look anyone in the eye.
Sometimes I think he’s so busy being afraid of everyone that he doesn’t realise that other people might be lonely too. I wonder what he’d be like if he found the courage to make a friend?
WILLIAM DAVIES: Hey, I’m Will. Yeah, I know David a bit. He sits in front of me in class, and his parents are friends with my mum and dad.
David’s always being picked on, but he makes it so easy. Sometimes I wish he’d just turn round and smack Stephen in the face. Yeah, I know, violence isn’t the answer, but that’s never stopped Stephen, has it?
It’d be easier for David to stand up for himself if he didn’t always get tongue-tied when he’s under pressure. Poor guy… I’d hate to have a stutter like that. I wonder how much his life would change if it went away?
BUNZER: Woof!
(Hey, I’m just a dog… what did you expect me to say?)
David’s World
Graveldene
DAVID: Graveldene’s a horrible, grey sort of town. Most of the time I’m either stuck at home in Tennyson Grove or I’m at school or the park across the street.
I like the countryside around Graveldene, though. Sometimes we take Bunzer for long walks up in the downland. If you climb Beacon Hill, you can see for miles around.
Dene Park Primary School
STEPHEN: I’m the king here. All the other kids answer to me.
DAVID: I’m in year six, now, and soon I’ll be leaving. I can’t wait. Mrs. Beasley, our teacher, is okay, but when she’s poorly we always end up with the horrible Mr. Hawkins.
WILLIAM: Yeah, he’s a total creep. How did someone who seems to hate kids so much end up as a teacher?
DAVID: He seems to hate me, especially.
WILLIAM: And don’t even get me started on the school dinners…
DAVID: I wouldn’t know. Stephen always takes my lunch money.
BUNZER: Woof!
DAVID: Shush, boy!
CARRIE: It’s not all bad here. Mrs. Beasley is lovely… I just wish she could control the class a bit better. I’m often on my own, but I’m used to it. Between lessons, I like to take books out from the library and read them in the little garden area at the back of the playground. Nobody ever bothers me there.
An encounter in the woods…
DAVID: Something strange happened to me when we went camping in Blackwood Forest at Easter, and I’m still figuring out what it all means. I mean, look at me! This just isn’t normal, is it? And why do things keep moving around on their own when I’m sleeping?
A letter from Grandpa
Dearest David,
Happy birthday!
Your dad has told me all about your strange transformation and all the other changes you have experienced in the last few weeks.
I don’t profess to understand it all, and it must have been very unsettling for you, but when it comes to the nuts and bolts of it – your new confidence, making new friends at school – it sounds like it must also have been a very exciting time. From the way your father tells it, I’m proud of you for coping with it all so well.
By the sounds of it, your new friend Carrie is into wildlife herself. Knowing that, I like her already, and I thought these gifts might help the two of you to ‘connect’.
Finally, I understand from your father that money is still tight this year and that a proper summer holiday looks unlikely. I’ve invited them to bring you here to Wootton-on-Sea for the summer, and I hope they will accept. This big old house seems awfully empty these days since your nanna Marjorie died. If nothing else, I’d love to see your new look for myself.
Lots of love,
Grandpa Kevin
Michael Wilberforce - Author 