Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Spud by John van de Ruit

It's South Africa, 1990. The country still squirms under the iron fist of apartheid. Two major events are about to happen: The release of Nelson Mandela, and more importantly, it's Spud Milton's first year at an elite boys only private boarding school. Cursed with parents from well beyond the lunatic fringe, a senile granny, and a dormitory full of strange characters, Spud has to forge a new life for himself in this foreign and sometimes hostile environment. Surrounded by names such as Gecko, Rambo, Rain Man and Mad Dog, Spud takes his first tentative steps along the path towards manhood. (The path, it seems, could be a rather long road.) Armed with only his wits and his diary, Spud takes us from illegal nightswimming to the cricket field, from ghostbusting to teacher baiting. He also invites us into the mind of a boy struggling to come to terms with a strange new world; a boy whose eyes are being opened to love, friendship and complete insanity.

It is a good fun read and from what I gather even more enjoyable if you're a boy who spent any time in boarding school (or so my Dad says!). It definitely had some laugh out loud moments and paragraphs I just had to read to the boyf when we were reading under the trees on his farm in the Free State. Completely enjoyable and even more so because it's set here in our very own South Africa, which I really like.

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

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