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Billy Elliot’s tough, funny and heart-warming story is given new depth by bestselling author Melvin Burgess.

Billy’s mother is dead, and his father and brother are fiercely involved in a bitter miners’ strike that has split the local community. Billy’s father wants his son to learn boxing, like he did, and his father before him. But Billy is fascinated by the grace and magic of ballet and is determined to dance his way to a different future.

Telling the story from the differing viewpoints of Billy, his father and brother and his friend Michael, Melvin Burgess has captured the spirit of the original film screenplay while demonstrating the skill and inspiration he showed in his award-winning novel, Junk.

Reviews:

'... fans of the film won't feel that Burgess has missed the point, and, as the film does, he makes you care.' SUNDAY TIMES

 '... will make reading as non-wimpish as Billy made ballet ... Full marks to Melvin Burgess.' BOOKS FOR KEEPS

'... the novel stands alone as a compelling and moving story, but also complements the film and will enhance it for those who have already seen it.' OBSERVER

'A writer of the highest quality with exceptional powers of insight.' SUNDAY TIMES 

‘I feel like a right idiot.’

‘You are a right idiot. So what’s the difference?’

He paused and looked at me. ‘I think you look nice, actually. I think you should do it. It looks very…’

‘What?’

‘Well, not tough, but ... manly.’

‘Manly? What sort of a word’s that? Anyhow, it’s for girls.’

‘It’s different when men do it. It’s like the gymnastics on the telly. The men are different, aren’t they? They’re so much stronger, like. Graceful but strong. You know what I mean?’

He comes out with it sometimes, Michael. Manly! But I knew what he meant. Gymnastics is a good way of looking at it. The ballet’s like that. I could jump higher than those girls. If you get your muscles underneath the jump, you go up like a f***ing bird. So in the end I did have another go at it, after all. I thought, Just once.

When I left the house I had no intention of doing it. Dad and Tony had their usual quarrel and went off to the picket line. I took my fifty pence off the fridge, got the gloves and off I went. But once I got into the changing rooms and I heard George going on, bang bang bang ... oh, my heart sank. I thought, Banging about in the ring and getting twatted by some dopey piece of shite – not for me, thanks.

Michael was right, it’s stupid.

So I hid in one of the cubicles in the changing room, waited until they’d all gone, and then sneaked down to the ballet class. It was downstairs this time so no one would ever know I’d been. It was just curiosity. I didn’t care that much. I just wanted to see how good I was at it, really. And I quite liked the girls all looking at me as well. And I didn’t half mind looking at them, either!