Collins Readers - Feather Boy (Cascades) Book

It is a rare writing debutant indeed that launches her first novel for children so conclusively and emphatically into the "must-read" books-of-the-year category. Feather Boy charts the first, truly character-defining sequence of events in Robert Nobel's short life so far. He is often the butt of classroom jokes and pranks--and being called Norbert No-bottle all the time isn't much fun either. He secretly wants to be somebody. To have a voice. To have friends. Robert's participation in the Elders Project begins a sequence of events that change his life forever. Selected members of his class are chosen to visit the elderly residents of Mayfield Rest Home--to interact with them, to find out about their lives and to "counter ignorant attitudes about such senior members of society". Robert's main attacker, Jonathan Niker, may think them all "vegetables", but Robert's own buried true-life personality is slowly unearthed by Edith Sorrel--a prickly resident who singles him out as her boy to talk to. Edith is considered quite mad, haunted by the unhappy memories of a past incident involving her old home, Chance House. Her son died there under tragic circumstances that Robert compulsively needs to find out about and examine. Yet Edith is a fascinating enigma. Clearly very ill, she confides all sorts about her life in Robert yet denies the existence of her doting husband at her bedside. As Edith's condition deteriorates and the Elders Project heads towards its conclusion, Robert is drawn deeper and deeper into her story. His visits to the derelict Chance House become more frequent, and one fateful trip to sleep there overnight as a dare with Niker heralds the first step on Robert's own journey to finding out about his real self. Nicky Singer's Feather Boy is more than just a story about bullying. It's bigger than that. It's about finding your voice, shouting from the rooftops about something you believe in, refusing to back down, helping a friend and never giving up. It's enormously uplifting, accomplished and satisfying. (Age 10 and over) --John McLayRead More