In 2011, my younger son became unwell with glandular fever. He was nine years old and he never quite bounced back. A couple of years later, he was diagnosed with ME/CFS, otherwise known as chronic fatigue syndrome. So many people seemed to think this was a condition that only teenagers or adults got, not many realised that children can get it too.
At the time, my older son had learned how to solve the Rubiks Cube, and he was getting faster by the day.
One memorable day, we were travelling back from the Royal Children’s Hospital after an appointment with the ME/CFS specialist, my older son had wanted to come so he could learn more about his brother’s condition, and decided to see how many times he could solve the Rubiks Cube between the Bolte Bridge and home. We noted the number and this was repeated on future trips.
During a discussion a little while later, he said he wanted to do something to help his brother. He wanted to have a fundraiser at his high school to see how many times he could solve the cube in an hour, and people could sponsor him. The school came on board and he did the fundraiser, raising money for Emerge Australia.
Shortly after the fundraiser, I was looking for another story to write. I noted that there weren’t many books about ME/CFS in children, or that feature kids who solve the Rubiks Cube (there were none), so I wrote a fictionalised version of the fundraiser my son did. He also did most of the illustrations inside the book.
That story became 3, 2, 1, Done!
This book was the first that featured a kid who solves the Rubiks Cube, and one of the few I’ve seen that feature a kid with ME/CFS.
Once again, I worked with Lilly Pilly Publishing on this book.
Every year for ME/CFS awareness, I put the ebook for this one free as a way to raise awareness. It’s available on Kindle and in print.
