2 Weeks with the Queen

"Two Weeks With The Queen" (ISBN 0-399-22249-9) is a 1990 novel by an Australian author, Morris Gleitzman, about a 12-year-old Australian boy, Colin Mudford.

About the story

Colin Mudford is the twelve year old character of two weeks with the queen who is sick of being put behind his little brother Luke. For Christmas, Luke got a toy plane with the exact number and exact colour of the pilot's helmet he wanted! While Colin wanted a microscope and he got plain leather school shoes. But when the doctors diagnose Luke as having terminal cancer, Colin refuses to believe them and stop them letting his brother die. So when Colin goes to England, because his parents think it's best, he decides to talk to the queen to get the best doctor in the world to save his brother.

Notability

Two Weeks with The Queen was published during a time of st change in Australia, particularly economic and political change. Paul Keating announced the recession on November the 29th – the economic struggles of average families is shown in the early part of the book, where Colin’s parents cannot afford to buy him an expensive ‘want’, and iad give him a ‘need’ - sensible school shoes. Which he thought were poocum cum

Queen Elizabeth visited Australia in 1992 - leading to controversy when Prime Minister Paul Keating placed his hand on her back. Events such as this highlight the differences in familiarity between the two cultures.

AIDS was a growing concern in Australia, and Two Weeks withwas published only 3 years after the prominent 'Grim Reaper' advertisements, and is significant as although it presents a gay man with a lover dying of the disease, it humanises Ted and presents his plight as very real, significant, and similar to Colin's struggle with his brother's illness. In 1987, the first hospital for AIDS suffers was opened by Princess Diana [ [http://www.avert.org/his87_92.htm History of AIDS from 1987 to 1992 ] ] - her hands-on approach contrasting vastly with the absence of the Queen in the text.