Positive thinking

Malorie Blackman is one of Britain's greatest writers for children and young adults. Yet her path to glory was long and hard.

Blackman was born in South London. Her parents had moved from BarbadosAn island nation in the Caribbean. Most of its inhabitants are the descendants of slaves who were traded under British rule..

As a child she faced racist abuse at school. She remembers being told to "go back to where you came from".

Her family was evictedForced to leave a property, usually your home. when she was 13. They lived in a rat-infested homeless shelter. Books were her escape.

She wanted to become an English teacher. Yet a careers advisor told her "Black people don't become English teachers".

Blackman also had to overcome illness. She suffers from sickle cell diseaseA group of inherent disorders that cause unusually shaped red blood cells in sufferers. . After it caused her to collapse, she overheard a doctor say: "She's going to be dead before she's 30".¹

Blackman decided to make every day count. She began writing. It was not easy: she received 82 rejection letters. But she kept trying. "If you hope things can be better," she says, "that's when you try and make things better."

Her hope paid off. Throughout the 90s she released a string of bestselling novels. Hackers (1992) explored computer hacking. Whizziwig (1995) starred a wish-granting alien. And Pig-Heart Boy (1997) tracked the prejudice faced by a teenager saved by an organ transplant.

As a child Blackman found almost no stories featuring Black heroes. She wanted to change this. In 2001 she published Noughts & Crosses. It imagined a society where the powerful Black Crosses rule over the White Noughts.

Blackman has won numerous honours, including a BaftaAn award given at the British Academy Film Awards ceremony. and an OBEThe Order of the British Empire, a lesser honour than a CBE.. And she has some famous fans. StormzyA British rapper and songwriter. once rapped: "I'm Malorie Blackman the way I sell books".

Inspiring children is Blackman's passion. "If I have served any purpose on this planet, I think - I hope - it's been to switch a few people on to reading and maybe even turn a few people into writers as well".

Is hope our greatest need?

Yes: Hope can have a powerful effect on our lives. Look at the placebo effect, where people recover from sickness despite being given a fake pill or treatment. Living without hope can lead us to despair.

No: A need is something that is essential for our lives. And although hope is very important for our happiness, we can live without it. Our greatest needs are physical ones: food, water and shelter.

Or... Hope is a very powerful thing. But it must be backed up with real possibility of change. It can lead to unrealistic expectations. A hope defeated can be more devastating than no hope at all.