The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Those, however, who like to speculate about the nature of fiction, might enjoy the unlikely, even gimmicky, conclusion. Suspense builds about who is sending the messages, but readers hoping for a satisfying solution to that mystery will be disappointed. The openly sentimental elements are balanced by swearing, some drinking and violence, and edgy friendships. With each act, he feels better about himself and builds a community of friends. He buys Christmas lights for a poor family, helps a local priest, and forces a rapist out of town. But he starts to overcome his low self-esteem when he foils a bank robbery and then receives a series of messages that lead him to do good deeds. The girl he loves just wants to be friends, and his mother constantly insults him, both of which make Ed, an engaging, warm-hearted narrator, feel like a loser. In this winner of the Australian Children’s Book Award for Older Readers, 19-year-old Ed Kennedy slouches through life driving a taxi, playing poker with his buddies, and hanging out with his personable dog, Doorman.
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