Series: None
Author: Susin Nielsen
Published October 6th 2016 by Andersen
Goodreads Synopsis
Ambrose Bukowski is a twelve-year-old with a talent for mismatching his clothes, for saying the wrong thing at the worst possible time, and for words. In short, he’s a self-described nerd. Making friends is especially hard because he and his overprotective mother, Irene, have had to move so often. And when bullies at his latest school almost kill him by deliberately slipping a peanut into his sandwich to set off his allergy, it's his mother who has the extreme reaction. From now on, Ambrose has to be home-schooled.
Then Ambrose strikes up an unlikely friendship with the landlord's son, Cosmo, an ex-con who's been in prison. They have nothing in common except for Scrabble. But a small deception grows out of control when Ambrose convinces a reluctant Cosmo to take him to a Scrabble club. Could this spell disaster for Ambrose?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
Ambrose Bukowski has never really had any friends, and his talent for words is not something which endears him to others. When he gets on the wrong side of a group of boys, who end up sending him to the hospital with an allergic reaction, his overprotective mother pulls him from school, and starts a home learning course. But she's always busy, and he becomes friends with the upstairs neighbour, and ex-con, Cosmo. Cosmo and Ambrose share a love of scrabble, and it's like Cosmo is the father he never had.
I'm so glad this book is finished. I was so annoyed with most of the characters throughout, and honestly didn't care about any of them. I mean, we're supposed to feel sorry for 12 year old Ambrose, who has no dad, always moves around, has a life threatening peanut allergy, is bullied and has an overprotective mother. Instead, I felt like he was the whiniest kid I've ever read, who could've done something so he wasn't bullied as much, and he was a real jerk too. I sort of liked Cosmo, but not enough to enjoy the book at all. This was a really young reading book, and I think it'll be more geared towards 10 year olds, though even then, Ambrose was more immature than most primary school kids. Oh well, it's another book off my TBR at least!
Dates Read:
June 2-3, 2023
Rating
2 Stars
