About a Boy

Title: About a Boy (Adult Cross-Over)

Author: Nick Hornby

ISBN: 9780965593892

Publisher: Gollancz

Copyright: 1999 (1998)

Genre: Fiction

Age Range: 16+

Reader’s Annotation: Marcus and Will try to figure out what is important in their lives as they grow in their own ways.

Plot Summary: About A Boy is a period piece. The period is London 1993. The story is split between two narrators: Will Freeman a lay about bachelor and Marcus Brewer an introverted young teen. Will’s dad wrote a popular Christmas song that enables Will to live off the royalties.  His life has very little purpose beyond drinking and chasing skirts. Marcus’ mother Fiona is suicidal despite her lively and friendly interactions with people.

            Will discovers that pretending to be a single dad is a good way to pick up women. He invents a two-year-old named Ned. Through a single parent group, Will meets Fiona and Marcus. Marcus picks will out to be his new mentor. Will is reluctant to this as Marcus is a drag to his lazy, emotionless life. Will warms up to Marcus and tries to spruce up Marcus’ appearance with a new haircut, some sneakers, and showing him the world of new music. Perviously, Marcus has been subjected to his mother’s Joni Mitchell. One particular band that becomes important is Nirvana. Marcus is creates a friendship with a troublesome girl, Ellie McRae, who is always wearing a Kurt Cobain shirt. Fiona and Marcus find out that Ned does not exist and continue their relationship with Will.

            Marcus spends some time with his dad Clive during Christmas. Marcus meets his dad’s girlfriend Lindsey and her mother. Clive has an accident during a simple home repair and decides that he needs to be closer with his son. Meanwhile, Will has fallen in Love with a single mother named Rachel who has a son named Alistair. Ali is the same age as Marcus. Using Marcus as his fake son, Will tries to woo Rachel. Clive asks Marcus to come out to Cambridgeshire to see him. Marcus asks Ellie to come with him for support. On the way through the train station, Ellie sees a cardboard cut-out of Kurt Cobain in a display and decides to smash the window. The shop owner has them arrested. At this time, Will is with Rachel . The police call Clive, Fiona, and Will to come down to the station. Does Clive love and support his son? Can Will come clean with Rachel about Marcus not being his son? Have Marcus and Will matured?

Critical Evaluation: About A Boy is a book that can cross generations. It uses the connections between a young teen and a grown man who acts like a teen to show the story that family is sometimes what we make of it. It is the story of how when a group of adults rally around a teen, he can really turn out to be special. One of the reasons why it was selected as a crossover is the fact that it is a coming of age story. It is the coming of age for Marcus to learn that it is okay to like the things that he likes. He does not have to always please his mother. For Will, it is the emotional coming of age that it is better to grow connections with people instead of using them for different purposes. These are two very important lessons for teens to learn.

Author Information: Nick Hornby is the author of the novels How to Be Good, High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down, as well as the memoir Fever Pitch. He is also the author of Songbook, a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and the editor of the short story collection Speaking with the Angel. The recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award for 1999 as well as the 2003 Orange Word International Writers’ London Award, he lives in North London. Source - http://www.penguin.com/author/nick-hornby/1000015368

Curriculum Ties: English

Challenge Issues: Language; Sex

Booktalk Ideas: Connections – One could talk about the relationships we have with adults as kids and transition to talk about Will and Marcus’ relationship.