Pool Boy (Neal Porter Books)

Rating:
Summary: This one was a pleasant surprise!
Review: After living the good life for almost his entire life, Brett is getting a taste of how the other half lives. His stockbroker father has just been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for three and a half years for insider trading, and Brett and his mom and sister have to move on the other side of the tracks (literally) and live with their crazy aunt.

Brett is finding it difficult to adjust to having no money while all his friends continue to attend tennis lessons and get new cars for their birthdays. But, worst of all, Brett seriously hates his father for what he has put them through, and has decided that he will not forgive.

Because it's summer and because he needs the money, Brett starts working with seventy-two year old pool cleaner Alfie, a somewhat eccentric but wise old man who seems to be the only one that Brett can talk to. Arrogant, pompous, and insensitive, Brett turns his family's ordeal into an even worst experience by constantly antagonizing his father during their bi-monthly prison visits. When tragedy strikes, Brett has the opportunity to see the real value of his relationships with his family and friends.

Brett is hardly a likeable kid, but somehow the author pulls off the magic trick of making Brett seem reasonable in his anger toward his father. The dialogue is an excellent example of narrative style, since the reader can picture Brett and only Brett speaking those lines. The teen love depiction is dead-on, especially as it comes from the voice of a spoiled teenage boy who has not learned to appreciate anything he has been given in life. This book is sure to spark some serious discussions about the "have's" and "have not's" of the world, and it can be expected that readers will want to know early on what is going to happen to give Brett the epiphany that he so obviously needs. For some reason, we want happiness for him; perhaps that is the sign of excellent writing, causing the readers to want good things for a less-than-gracious protagonist.

Rating:
Summary: Not the typical, i guess...
Review: FINALLY, there's fairly decent book about an unlucky kid. It's not a girl who finds out she's a princess, not a high school boy who's crush happends to fall in love with him, not a poor family that suddenly wins the lottery. It's about a spoiled rich kid who gets a taste of what life is like when money doesn't grow on trees.
It was a great book, I thought that Alfie was a little "much" at times, not a likely person to meet. But, I did like the feeling the book gave after you were done with it that made you glad you had "something."

Rating:
Summary: Pool Boy Review
Review: This book is very well written. It grabbed my attention in the first page. Many people can relate to how Brett is feeling and there are many parts where I don't know what's going to happen next, or something happens that makes me feel how lucky I am. Also, there are very many emotions in the book that I can relate to.