A BOY from a North Yorkshire town has just completed his third book on a detective group solving mysteries based on his school - this time in collaboration with a friend.

Mitchell Wray, a Year 5 pupil at Wistow School in Selby, has just completed the final book in his 'Songbird Saga' trilogy.

The series started two years ago - when he was just 7-years-old, off the back of a reading challenge at school, where he had to design a front cover and blurb for an imaginary book.

His headteacher said she liked the sound of the blurb so much, she challenged him to write the first chapter. That weekend he wrote the prologue and three chapters. His writing was read out in assembly - and the whole school loved it.

"His friends begged him to write more, and some asked if they could be written into it. Over the half term break, he wrote another seven chapters to finish the book," said Mitchells' mum, Tanya.

His book, called Songbirds Saga, was based at Wistow School. Songbirds is the name of the school choir, but in the books they are also a secret detective group, with a history of solving mysteries.

Mitchell sold copies on his lunch breaks and received a matched donation and raised £250, which he decided to donate to his school.

Seven months later, the young author wrote a second book, called 'Songbird Saga - Lost'. Through book sales and donations, he raised just over £750, taking the total for both books to over £1,000.

Mitchell, aged 9, said: "“I love writing. If I can use it to raise money for my school, then that’s even better."

Now, his third book, the final one in the trilogy, called 'Songbird Saga - Coding Catastrophe', is finished and available to buy.

York Press:

He has collaborated with a friend, Esther Lazenby, 10, who has illustrated his third book. They have been busy, printing, folding and stapling during break times.

He is selling it for £2 per copy. He has already received donations from Acorn dental practice, John Cattenach and AKD Components - who have also promised a further donation based on sales.

So far, he has sold around 100 copies, which means the current total for this book is over £500.

Tanya added: "Raising money for his school is so important as, due to the pandemic, almost all of their normal fundraising activities were cancelled.

"We are so proud of him, not only for writing the books, but also for wanting to raise money for his school. He is, quite rightly, also very proud of himself and of the amount of money he has raised for his school."