"It’s 1990. Apartheid is crumbling. Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison. And Spud Milton—thirteen-year-old, prepubescent choirboy extraordinaire—is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school in South Africa. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a senile granny named Wombat, and a wild obsession for Julia Roberts, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home.
Armed with only his wits and his diary, Spud takes readers of all ages on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, raging hormones, and catastrophic holidays that will leave the entire family in total hysterics and thirsty for more."
OMG this is a wonderful book. It had me rolling around on the floor laughing at times. As a South African there is so much that reminded me of home, there is much that hasn't changed despite the change in times. It really captured the wacky spirit of modern South Africa.
Written in a Diary format that doesn't usually appeal to me, it was actually handled very well and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. I don't know if the humour will be funny to non-South African's but I truly found it hysterical.
While there isn't actually much to do with the political climate in South Africa at the time in the book, there are mentions of it. For example while the prepping the father does might sound stupid and exaggerated, it is however exactly what many white South Africans did at the time. I think Spud's obliviousness is incredibly accurate for many of the white children going through this huge change, they had no idea what was going on and many didn't even know what Apartheid was.
Spud as a character was lovably ordinary. Not standing out at anything, he is oblivious and has no real formed character yet. He is on a journey of self discovery. Themes of belonging, madness, love and friendship grace the pages throughout the book, and all the while, you will laugh with the boys and their ordeals going through an entire year being together in boarding school.
The last section does take an unexpectedly serious and sad turn. I am not sure that is was necessary or realistic but it made me sad none the less. I was shocked at times during this books for the content that van de Ruit was happy to introduce. For example - the realistic, yet absolutely horrifying hazing, awkward homoerotic subtext, the disgusting suggestion of a student-teacher relationship, drunk teachers, etc. All expressed with very raw and crude language. While I did find myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, and found the setting [South Africa] and time period [1990] to be intellectually interesting and close to home, there was a lot to be found in this novel that made me uncomfortable.
Age Rating, for the above reasons, should be around 15+.
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