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by Allan Johnston (Author), Danny Ruta (Author)
Lite Knight is the story of Roller, an overweight but lovable 11 year old, who with his two friends, a girl Tiger and a boy Gerald, has to enter his favourite comic book, 'The Guardian Knights of Eclados', where they must train to become knights and develop superpowers so that they can save their super hero guardian knights. Has Roller got the strength and willpower he needs to become a knight, and defeat the evil Lord Ecktor before all Eclados is enslaved?
Lite Knight is an exciting children's adventure set in a fantasy Arthurian futuristic world where everything is powered by crystals (including the knights' armour and even their mechanical 'hover horses'), but on a deeper level it's about childhood obesity and its root causes. In the comic book world Roller will need to learn willpower and self-discipline to become a knight, the same skills he needs in the real world to manage his weight. However, Ecktor and his evil plan to use food 'crystals' to control the town's people and turn them into an army of crystal fed knights (regardless of the side effects) is really an allegory for the fast food and drink industry, the real cause of childhood obesity.
Roller's struggles with overeating, low self-esteem, and using food for comfort mirror real world childhood obesity challenges for children and their parents. Roller's emotional eating - especially in moments of fear, embarrassment, or anxiety - reflects how children often use food as a coping mechanism. His journey focuses on building willpower, self-discipline, and self-worth rather than dieting. Roller has an internal "negative voice" that symbolizes anxiety and self-doubt. Sagramore the wizard teaches him a technique to deal with negative self-talk that parents can use too. Children learn that bravery isn't the absence of fear, but acting despite it.
The 'crystal food' in Eclados acts as a powerful allegory for highly processed, addictive, fast-food products that offer instant gratification but long-term harm. The evil Lord Ecktor in turn, becomes a symbolic stand-in for the fast-food industry, using clever marketing, addictive ingredients, and false promises to manipulate people for profit.
