Boys often struggle to express themselves, but books can help them process their feelings safely and in their own way. For author FIONA HARRIS, that's the real magic of writing for kids who'd rather be doing anything else.

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The idea for my new middle grade fiction novel, The Rebound, came from a tragic experience in my own life.

A couple of years ago, a dear friend died suddenly, leaving behind her husband and their 14-year-old son. He loved basketball and had been looking forward to trying out for the top team in his division with his best friend.

But he missed the tryouts because he was at the hospital with his mum. And the club wouldn't allow him to try out later.

It was a stunning display of insensitivity.

In The Rebound, my character Harry has lost a parent too. He's a boy who's hurting but not talking, and basketball becomes a way of processing his grief, with the help of his coach and teammates.

I grew up with two younger brothers and saw first-hand how the world expected them to keep their feelings suppressed; to "man up", even when they were going through something awful.

That mentality may have shifted somewhat since the '80s and '90s, along with a long-overdue focus on our kids' mental health in general, but the pressure on boys to tough it out, suck it up and get on with it is still very much baked into our culture. But I believe that kids deserve stories that let them feel everything.

We all know how much of a challenge it can be to get kids to pick up a book these days. To sit down and give a story your full concentration is hard enough for adults (let alone kids) when there's a world of attention-grabbing tech buzzing around them.

As a children's author, it's my job to create characters, stories and worlds that keep kids engaged with the book in their hands. This matters deeply to me because I know how special it is to lose yourself in a good book.

I can still........

© Canberra Times